A Tornado Meets A Volcano
by gabicpa
Summary: He's a completely fucking mess. Voices in his head, demons tormenting him. The guilt. Consuming him inside, killing him. He's a tornado, ready to destroy everything he loves. But there's a girl. Just like him. A volcano which is already deactivated, but it's still ready to explode. What happens when the storm they get into gets too big? [Josh x OC] (canon starts at chapter 13)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: lmao, hey remember me? yeah i was supposed to continue that twd fanfic but every time i wrote chapter 15 something would happen and all the files of my computer would get deleted ): it seems like the universe doesn't want me to write that thing (i wish i was kidding, but that happened TWICE).

ANYWAY, during this hiatus, i became obsessed with until dawn and mr robot heheheh, sorry, cant help it, rami malek is my bby turtle. So yeah, enjoy this or don't, whatever. Josh is a little bit ooc in the first two chapters, but trust me: I'm putting a lot of effort on this shit to come out prefect. so it's worth it. it really is. I'm a sucker for aus, so it's not gonna be the same story, since the games has many ending possibilities, I decided I'll create one myself just bc I can heh.

also: if you have no idea what im talking about and you're just here because you follow me, search for until dawn on youtube. you're welcome.

also2: starting from next chapter, I'll begin to put the a/n on the end of the fic, ok bYE

enjoy!

 **rated M for drugs, explicit sex and swear/bad language.**

* * *

 _We're never done with killing time_

 _Can I kill it with_ _ **you**_

' _Till the veins run red and blue?_

 _We come around here all the time_

 _Got a lot to_ _ **not**_ _do_

 _Let me kill it with you._

 _(Lorde)_

~ooOOoo~

"Ms. Stillbloom, please-" The receptionist started to call her, but the girl cut her off.

"Oh, fuck off."

The girl stormed out of the room, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.

"Stillbloom!" Dr Alan Hill called her from the door of his office. "Our session is not done yet!"

"Well, I am!" She screamed back and raced out of the office and rushing downstairs.

Hill just sighed and looked at Joshua who was sitting in the waiting room, watching the scene. It wasn't quite the good impression he was expecting to have from the new Doctor.

"Well." Hill said looking at him. "It seems your appointment is going to start earlier today."

Josh stood up and walked towards the man's office.

"Have a seat." The older man indicated a chair in front of his desk. Josh sat down and observed the place. He watched as the Doctor sat and opened a new file, which was blank. "I'm your new therapist, Doctor Hill. Your full name?"

Hill didn't even look at him as he talked. Josh was uncomfortable with the new desk and chair area. The last shrink he went had a sofa for him to sit. It was more comfortable.

"Joshua Washington." He answered the doctor.

"Have you ever consulted a psychiatrist before, Joshua?"

Josh felt a certain irritation growing on his chest. Mrs. Washington already had called Hill and told everything about Josh to him. He knew everything. Then why was he asking those questions?

Hesitant, Josh nodded, looking at everywhere but the doctor's face. He watched as the older man wrote something down, in a new file. Josh's file.

"Were you taking any medications?"

"Yeah… Antidepressants."

Dr Hill nodded as he wrote down even more. The silence invaded the room as Josh observed his new Doctor. He was different from the other. Had a little OCD; you could tell that just by looking at his desk. There was a place for everything. His pens, papers, even for framed photos of his family.

"Your mom mentioned something about your sisters?" He asked, interrupting Josh's thoughts.

He hesitated again, but nodded.

"They're... They're gone." He started telling him. "I mean we're still looking for them, but... They just vanished."

Dr Hill nodded and wrote everything down.

 _Is he seriously going to write down everything I say?_

"And how do you feel about that?" Hill asked.

He knew how it worked. He was doing this since he was eleven, he knew how shrinks read people. He knew how they knew if someone was lying. He had to be honest or it would be worse for him later.

"Guilty." He replied after taking a deep breath. "I passed out, I woke up and... They were gone." He swallowed hard. "Hannah, she was so… So naïve. She would believe anything anyone would tell her." He breathed again. "There was… There was a prank. She fell for it. And then Beth went after and… They never came back."

Josh didn't realize he was spilling everything out until he reached the end of the session. He spat everything; the anger of himself, of his friends, the way he missed this sisters, the self-hate.

He got out of the office and raced straight to the stairs. He didn't want anyone to know he was crying.

 _Maybe if I hadn't drunk that much... I would be there for them. For Hannah._

He hated himself for not being a good big brother. For not protecting them. For not being there for Hannah went she was deceived.

"Hey, kid." A voice brought him back to reality, making him realize that he was already outside of the building, with tears streaming down his face. "You okay?"

He turned his head towards the voice's owner. It was the girl who had stormed out of the office earlier. She was leaned on the wall of the building, looking at him.

He stared at her, from toes to head. He stared at her combat boots and her 3/4 grey socks together with a black pantyhose, her denim shorts and a white oversized social shirt, that probably didn't even belong to her, and her military styled jacket. A clubmaster rayban rested on the top of her head, keeping her black and blue hair away from her pale face. She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and dark brown eyes behind the smoked grey and black makeup. Her nails were painted black and a cigarette was in between her fingers.

"Yeah." He finally replied to her, sniffing and wiping away his tears. She scoffed and blew the smoke she had inside her lungs.

"You don't look like it." She said, looking away from him.

He stared at her for a moment in silence. "You're the one to talk."

She frowned and looked at him again.

"Hey, that old fart should be thanking me for going home earlier today, okay?" She put her cigarette between her lips and smoked once more. "Besides, he was getting on my nerves since last week."

"PMS?" Josh leaned against the wall beside her, but kept his distance.

The girl just looked him dead in the dead.

"Very funny, kid." She replied blowing her smoke.

He laughed slightly. "Why are you still here anyway?"

"I'm waiting for someone."

"Your ride?"

"More like a client." She half smiled and laughed when saw Josh's confused look. "I'm not a whore, relax." She sighed. "Let's just say I got the good stuff."

 _Ah, a drug dealer._

"I'm not surprised." He said, crossing his arms. She laughed once more, letting her cigarette fall on the ground and stepping on it.

"I like you, kid." She said. "I'm keeping you."

"Would you stop calling me 'kid'?" He said a little irritated. "I'm taller and probably older than you."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "No, you're not!" she insisted.

"Oh, yeah?" He challenged her. "I'm going to be 20 next May."

She stared at him for a moment, biting her bottom lip and blinking a few times.

"Shit." she smirked. "You really are older than me."

He smiled at her but she didn't see it. She looked away from his green eyes, spotting the person she was waiting for.

"And how old are you?" He asked, curious.

"That would be something you need to find out by yourself." She said, putting her sunglasses on and shoving her hands into her pockets. "Let me know if you need something... Y'know, to make you a little happier. I'll be here every Wednesday, unfortunately." She half smiled at him and started walking to cross the street, but turned away again. "I'm Luna, by the way."

"Josh." He waved at her and watched her walking away and almost getting hit by a car, flipping it off when the honk echoed through the street.

On the way home, he couldn't get Luna out of his head. There was something different about her. It wasn't the colorful hair, or the way she talked. It was something unique on her.

Something good.

~oOo~

It was getting harder and harder for Josh to get up in the mornings. All he could hear was silence. When the twins were there, the mornings were usually loud, with sounds of hair

dryers and talking between the girls. There was even sometimes when they had a fight. Those times were time where he just wished for some silent in the mornings.

He would give anything to get them back.

He'd been taking his meds, not that they helped much, but he had to take something. He was becoming more and more addicted to the old antidepressants. He needed something stronger.

"Have you been sleeping well?" Dr Hill asked, bringing Josh to reality.

He blinked a few times, before replying to the shrink.

"Yeah."

"Well, the bags under your eyes don't agree with you." He wrote something down his file again. "I'm going to prescribe you some sleeping pills, the weak ones, for a start. You're going to start taking them only when you feel like you can't sleep."

Josh nodded. It was common. He usually wouldn't speak much, only answered the doctor's questions, which made him even worse than before. Hill seemed to know how to reach the part of his soul that hurt the most. And that was killing Josh. It was making him feel even guiltier.

When the session was over, he walked out of the building and met Luna in the same spot than the week before, smoking the same brand of cigarette.

However... There was something different on her this time. It wasn't the different clothes or the hair up in bun. She had bags under her eyes too. Her look was vague, focusing on nothing in particular.

"Hey." He was the first to talk, getting her attention.

"Hey, pretty boy." She said when she looked at him, forcing a smile. "How'd go?"

"Didn't see you leaving." He ignored her question.

"Yeah." She gave her cigarette a smoke and then sighed. "I skipped today's session."

He frowned. "Why?"

She looked away, blowing her smoke and shook her head. "Had a fight with my evil stepmother. Didn't feel like talking about my feelings today."

Josh nodded, but she didn't see him. They were silent for a moment while she finished her cigarette. He had no idea of what to say. She looked at him, and faked a laugh.

"Well, that was depressing." She said, shoving her hands on her leather jacket pockets. "I'm gonna need some artificial happiness for this."

She took a plastic bag with weed out of her pocket and showed to him, smirking.

"Wanna get high, pretty boy?" She invited him. "I'll make an exception for you. All for free... Well, as long as you share it me."

Josh let out a laugh and shook his head.

"No thanks." He answered.

"Aw, come on!" She insisted. "Let's just get high and... Walk around LA, like we own this damn city."

He laughed again, looking at the ground.

"As much fun this sounds... I can't. My parents will be here in a minute." He lied.

Luna looked at him for a moment and then just sighed.

"Okay, whatever." She put the weed back in her pocket. "Keep with your antidepressants, then."

"How do you know that I take antidepressants?" He asked her, frowned.

"Because I take them too." She replied, putting another cigarette between her lips and lighting it. "What's that saying? 'It takes one mad person to recognize another'...? I don't know, something that I saw on a stupid TVshow."

"What?" He asked, confused.

She sighed. "Forget it."

"Are you okay?" He leaned his shoulder on the wall, fully facing her.

"No." She answered after a second or two in silence.

"Then... Why did you skip your session?" He teased her, half smiling. It was his way of dealing with serious subjects; teasing and making jokes about it. Or when he didn't know what to do.

Luna looked at Josh smirking.

"I don't think he's a good shrink." She smoked the cigarette once more. "My evil step mother pays him to put some sense in me." She looked at her boots, grabbing the straps of her backpack with one hand. "It ain't working. All he does is just... Write, and write and write. Don't you just die of curiosity to know what he writes about you?" She looked straight in his eyes.

Josh shrugged. "It annoys me, but I don't think I'd wanna know what he thinks of me."

"I do." She stared at the street. "I will."

He just looked confused at her. Something in her eyes caught his attention. It was anger or curiosity. It was honesty.

"Okay." He said after a minute or two in silence.

"I should probably go." She said, taking her phone off her pocket. "Yeah, I should go." She widened her eyes to the screen and turned her back to him, starting to walk. "See ya."

"Wait, Luna!" He called her and she turned around to face him.

 _Ask her, c'mon, you've done this a million times._

"Take care." He breathed. It wasn't what he wanted to say, but it would've to do.

She gave him a bright smile.

"You too, pretty boy."

~ooOOoo~

also3: I just assumed Josh lived in LA because of his father being a big film producer and stuff, this probably is not true, I don't really know where the gang lives but this is called fanFICTION amrite lmao. _Also_ I thought it would be better if "the incident" happened in December of 2014 because it would make sense, since .com says that Josh's birthday is may 20th, and he's twenty years old. But after writing fucking seven chapters I looked it up to find out that they removed that information, yea, tHANKS A LOT.

also4 (last one I promise): im not from usa and english is not my first language, so pls be nice and disregard any typos or grammar mistakes. thank u

also5 (ok, i lied): as I never went to LA I don't know how is there, so ill be very vague about the places there in the lovely America which I wanted to visit so bad but the dollar its too expensive in brazilian money. fuck my life

ok, that's it! I hope you stick around to read the rest (:


	2. Chapter 2

_Dancing around_

 _The_ _ **lies**_ _we tell_

 _Dancing around_

 _Big eyes as well._

 _(Lorde)_

~ooOOoo~

Three weeks had passed since Josh had first met Luna. They only saw each other once a week, for about twenty minutes, so their talks were very short. She would always play careless. Like she didn't care if he showed up or not. They were slowly bounding and becoming good friends. She always invited him to hang out but he would turn her down every time. He just... Couldn't. He couldn't have fun, knowing that his sisters were somewhere hurting and suffering, or maybe even dead.

It wasn't until that Dr Hill suggested that he should be hanging more with friends that he asked her to go out.

"What like in a date?" She raised her eyebrows, looking at him when he made the invitation.

"No, like friends." He smiled at her.

"Okay… When?"

"Like... Right now."

She stared at him for a moment and then nodded. "Okay." She dropped her cigarette butt on the floor and stepped on it. "I know a place where we can escape."

Luna took Josh to a place near by the bay, after some big rocks at the shore. Sitting in one of those, she waited for him to climb up and sit next to her.

"I come here sometimes, when I just want to think about nothing." She said, looking at the sea. "I don't like beaches that much, but this is my favorite place to come."

Josh smiled. She was opening herself to him without even noticing.

"It's beautiful." He said.

They were in silence for a while, and then Luna broke it.

"Josh?" She called him, without making eye contact. He looked at her face and frowned. Her expression was serious, but thoughtful. She waited for him to answer, to continue talking.

"Yeah?"

She looked at him and licked her lips. "Why are you seeing Doctor Hill?"

She wanted to know. She _needed_ to know. It wasn't the possibility of him being a psycho or crazy. It was the hope of him being the same as her. The hope of having someone who understands her, someone she could talk to, someone who could listen to her and not write everything down on a file.

And of course, Josh hesitated to answer that. When he didn't reply, Luna realized how stupid the question was.

"Ugh, I'm sorry." She put the palm of her hand on her forehead, leaning her elbows on her knees. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay." He said, staring at the ocean. "I just... Don't feel like I'm ready to tell you yet."

The guilt. There was always the guilt. He couldn't tell her, not yet.

"Just... Tell me you're not a psycho or something." She joked.

He laughed out loud and Luna smiled. The happy moment lasted at least three seconds, but it was still worth it.

Josh laughed.

Luna was happy without the use of drugs.

Three seconds, but worth it, for both of them.

"I'm afraid I'm a little crazy." He said, leaning on his hands. "I dropped out of college."

Luna shrugged. "I dropped outta high school. That doesn't make us crazy."

He looked at her with eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Oh, don't act so surprise." She mocked herself. "It's not like you didn't see that coming."

"No, I just… Didn't know you were that young." He scratched the back of his head.

"Oh." She turned to face him. "So, you finally figured out how old I am?"

The smirk on her face made Josh smile.

"With that hint, I have an idea." He laughed.

"Then what is it?"

He stared at her in silence for a moment and then looked at her hands.

"You're sixteen." He said and then looked at her. "And you act like you're older, because you don't want anyone to know you're still a child."

Luna laughed. She knew part of it was right. However, she shook her head and sighed.

"Almost." She explained. "I'm seventeen. But my birthday is on October, so I'm not that young okay?"

Josh threw his head back laughing like a little kid. Luna laughed too. He suddenly realized that he liked the sound of her laugh.

 _She should smile more._

"But you're right." She said, looking at her hands. "Well, half right. I do act like I'm older… But… " She trailed off and then changed the subject. "Your birthday is coming." She forced a laugh. "May 20th, right?"

He frowned confused. "Yeah, and it's three months from now?"

"It's close." She insisted. "Compared to mine."

He nodded. "Yeah, when you put it that way-"

"Is there going to be a party?" She interrupted him. "'Cause I wanna be invited, okay. I'll bring anything you want."

"I don't think so…" Josh answered, a little distant.

"Hey, why not?" She asked.

"I don't think I wanna throw a party knowing that my-" He interrupted himself to discover he had talked too much and went silent right away.

Luna looked at him with worried eyes.

"Your what?" She asked.

Josh just shook his head and looked at his own hands, trying to get distracted. Luna opened her mouth but closed right away, deciding to give him space. In that moment, she realized he was like her.

He had lost someone just she like did.

~ooOOoo~

Josh woke up in one morning with the sound of his mother crying. He knew what meant. They were calling off the searches for the twins.

 _It's been over two months. That long already?_

It was hard for him to keep track of time now that wasn't in college anymore. He had lost interest in talking with his friends, even though they tried to reach for him. He just… Didn't want to. All he wanted to do was lay down in bed all day, every day. And that's what he did in that day.

And in the next one.

On Wednesday, his mom called Dr Hill to say that Josh wouldn't be able to be present on his session. Luna waited for him in that day; inside the office that time. But he didn't show up.

By Friday, Josh's parents had organized a dinner in memorial of his sisters. It was a fancy one, in a really expensive restaurant. They had invited Hannah and Beth's friends. Josh didn't want to see them. The guilty was consuming and controlling his life in a way he couldn't escape. So he called in sick, and skipped the dinner.

In that day, Luna stayed in the streets until night this time. She rarely went home, only to change her clothes and grab some extra. Her mind was somewhere else in that day.

" _What's going on?" Luna interrupted the fight between her stepmother and her father in that morning._

" _You stay out of it!" Nancy pointed a finger to her. Luna raised her eyebrows, feeling the anger fill up her chest._

" _I just asked what was happening!" She yelled back. Nancy sighed and put her hands on her head._

" _Your father is passing out of his limits." She breathed._

" _Oh, I didn't know you were his mother!" Luna said._

" _Luna!" Her father scolded her._

" _What?! You're going to let her tell you what to do?!"_

" _I told you to stay out of it!" Nancy insisted once more._

" _Last time I checked, you were not my mother and you didn't tell me what to do." Luna looked right into the woman's eyes._

" _Well, check it again, you little brat!"_

" _Don't call me like that, you bitch!"_

 _And that was enough to Nancy give a punch on Luna's face, making a small cut in her bottom lip._

The weather was getting hot, which forced her to take off her jacket and hang in one of the straps of her backpack. Walking down to the metro station, she really didn't know where she was going. All she knew was that she didn't want to spend on more second near Nancy.

On the subway, she looked at the three beaded bracelets in her wrist. Her brother had made two of them, when he spent his time in Hawaii. It was two simple beaded bracelets, like the ones you had when you were a kid. With dices spelling their names; she had them since she was ten years old.

She held the last one between her fingers; it was the one that hanged loose the most on her wrist. Sighing, she leaned her head back on the wall of the subway car and closed her eyes for a moment.

" _I met someone." She said. "A guy."_

 _There was silence for a moment between her and the thearapist._

" _And your relationship with him is…_ _?" The Doctor asked._

" _Oh, we're just friends." She nodded and there was silence again._

" _And you have any feelings for him?"_

" _Oh, no! We're just reeeally good friends… I feel like I can relate to him y'know."_

" _Does he know about your… Past?"_

" _No." She paused. "But… I don't know his either."_

Luna snapped her eyes open and came back to reality, in the subway car.

 _I don't know anything about him._

Suddenly, she knew where she was going to.

~oOo~

As the day passed, Luna made her deals with her usual people and earned some money. When the night came, she waited outside the building she went every Wednesday. It was about 8pm when Dr Hill left the place, holding his stupid briefcase.

Luna watched as he walked towards his parked car. She waited for him to be out of sign to enter the building. There was a security guard walking around the place, with a flashlight in his hands.

"Hey!" Luna called him, before he could see her. She walked towards him, shoving one hand on her jacket pocket. "I need some answers." She ignored his confused look. "And I'm only going to find them on Dr Hill's office. So why don't you…" She took her hand out of her pocket with the money between her index and middle finger. "Look to the other way while I do my job?"

The man looked to the sides, as if someone else was there to see what he was doing and took the money out of her hand.

"You have twenty minutes." He said, walking away from her.

Luna nodded, and ran upstairs, straight to the office. The door was locked, of course, but she had her ways. Taking a picklock out of her backpack, she unlocked the door. Something that she learned from her older brother.

She entered the room and ran straight to the Dr's office. She already knew where he kept the files: the filing cabinet.

 _So cliché._

Opening the drawer of the doctor's desk, she found the key for the files.

"Where are you, pretty boy?" She mumbled to herself as she went through the 'W' section. Pulling out Josh's file, she smiled by herself in the dark room.

She opened the file as she walked towards Hill's desk and sat on his chair. Turning on the reading light he kept on his desk, she started reading.

Luna read the file from the first page to the last.

"Oh, Josh." She whispered. "Is it that bad?"

In the last page, she read the last entry:

" _February 25_ _th_ _:_

 _Patient did not attend the session today. Relative informed that he's been sick all week. She later explained that the police were stopping the look for his sisters._

 _Joshua's mind state is not progressing, is regressing._

 _I might have to recommend ECT, to find a solution, but it's still too soon to talk about it. In the next session, I'm going to recommend stronger antidepressants and sleeping pills."_

Luna leaned on the back of the chair, staring at the desk with eyebrows furrowed. If the doctor said he's getting worse, she didn't realize it. He was always making jokes and smiling.

But then again, she was always making jokes and laughing herself.

"You're like me, pretty boy." She said to herself. "You're just like me."

~oOo~

Josh woke up with the sound of the shower running. For a moment he thought his parents had come back from the dinner, but then he looked at the clock.

 _They left only a half an hour ago._

Slowly he stood up, a little dizzy from the nap he was taking. As he walked towards his mother's bathroom, the shower was turned off and he heard cabinets opening and closing quickly, like if the person was looking for something.

"Mom?"

There was silent and then a whispered _"shit"._

"Mom, is that you?" Josh asked again. When there was no reply, he quickly opened the door to find Luna wet and wrapped in a towel. Josh's jaw dropped and he frowned in confusion.

"Heyyy." She breathed and smiled lightly.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" He exclaimed.

"What the fuck are _you_ doing here?" Luna replied.

"Uh… That's my house?"

"I know, but I thought no one was home." She crouched to pick her backpack and the clothes she had left on the ground.

"You thought-" Josh scoffed. "And that makes it okay for you to break into _my_ house?!"

"It doesn't!" She stood up and stared at him. "But I needed a place to shower and goddammit, this bathroom is bigger than my kitchen!"

He sighed. "What happened to your house?"

Luna looked down and sighed.

"My house is out of the question." She looked at him and he could see the small cut on her bottom lip. Then he realized he was a little harsh with her.

"But, alright then, if you don't want me here." She turned her back to him, dropping the towel on the floor and starting to put her clothes on.

He didn't know what hit him, but his mouth was quicker than his thoughts.

"No…" He said, looking away from her naked back. She went quiet, but didn't look at him. "Stay."

His voice was different than before. It was like he was sadder than before.

"I can use some company." He mumbled.

With her back still turned to him, Luna opened her mouth to say something, but closed right away. If he hadn't told her about his sisters, it was because he didn't want her to know. Yet.

"Josh?" She said, smirking even though he couldn't see her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm still gonna need to put some clothes on."

"Oh!" He walked out of the bathroom. "Right, sorry."

A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom with her normal clothes.

"Can I just say?" She said, leaning on the doorframe. "This shower is glorious."

Josh let out a laugh and nodded at her to follow him.

"Actually, mine is better." He said, smirking at her.

"Oh, really?" She teased. "I'm gonna remember that next time I break in."

Josh led her to the kitchen and turned the lights on. Luna, then, noticed he was only wearing a plaid sweat pants and a tank top.

"Where you-"

"You hungry?" He interrupted her. "Wanna order a pizza?"

She stared at him for a moment and then smiled.

"Sure. I like cheese."

While Josh ordered the pizza, Luna was a conflict with herself, deciding if she should tell him about her reading his file or not.

"Hey, Luna?" He said, interrupting her thoughts. "Sorry I was little rude earlier…" He put his hand on the back of his neck. She let out a laugh.

"It's okay, pretty boy." She smiled. "If I was in your shoes, I'd have done the same."

He smiled at her and she just stared at him, in silence.

"Listen, josh I-"

"What happened with your lip?" He interrupted her once more. It was like he was trying to get Luna to avoid talking about him. She stared at him in silence again, and then looked at the counter who separated them.

"My…" She said. "My evil stepmother that's what happened."

He frowned. "Does she always hit you?"

Still not looking at him, she hesitated. "No, just…" She cleared her throat. "Just when I call her a bitch." She forced a laugh.

"Luna." Josh insisted and she looked at him. "Does she always hit you?" He repeated the question, and she swallowed before shaking her head.

"Just sometimes." She confessed. "It's not…" She hesitated. "It's not like I can do anything about it, if I do something, my father will start hitting me again-"

She interrupted herself, realizing she had talked too much. When did Josh changed the subject and made it about her?

"Your dad hits you too?!" He asked, with eyebrows raised in surprise.

"No!" Luna might have answered too quickly. "He doesn't do it anymore."

Josh stared at her for a moment with his jaw dropped.

"Luna, why don't you do something-"

"Because, Josh, I'm fine!" She interrupted him. "If I do something, if I call the police, my dad goes to jail and who's gonna take care of me? Nancy! And I don't call her 'evil' for nothing, okay."

"Luna-"

"Can we stop talking about it, please?" Luna sighed and turned her back to him.

Josh sighed and put his hands on the counter. He couldn't help but feel like had disappointed her. He felt like shit. He felt like all he did was to disappoint people.

"I'm sorry." He breathed.

She looked at him and forced a smile. "It's okay. " She replied. "That's why I don't like talking about it too much." She forced a laugh, but Josh didn't follow her.

"Hey, pretty boy." She talked softly and he looked at her. "I'm okay."

Josh slowly smiled. They stood in silence for a while and then something hit his. His smile slowly faded and Luna frowned.

"Hey, how did you know where I lived?" He asked and Luna's heart raced.

"Um…" She started, swallowing hard. "I just… I followed you." _Shit._ "That day… When… I took you to the rocks near by the bay…" She took a deep breath. "You-you went home walking and I followed you."

He wasn't buying it. He knew she was lying, but why?

"And… Why?" He walked towards her.

Luna took another deep breath as he approached her. She wasn't so sure if he was mad or just teasing her, the look on his face didn't give a clue.

"I-I, um…" She cleared her throat again. "Because… I-I wanted to know where to come in an emergency…?" The sentence came out like a question and she let out a nervous laugh.

Josh started to smile and then laughed. "I'm just fucking with you!"

Luna watched him as he laughed breathing out in relief. "You little fuck." She mumbled under her breath.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" He laughed. "Like 'oh, shit, he got me'!"

"Very funny." She said, smiling, as he wiped the tears of his face. When he sighed for the last time, they were in silence again.

Luna had already given up trying to talk about what she read on his file and was just staring at nowhere.

"So, what do you wanna do?" He asked, bringing her back to reality.

She shrugged and went quiet for a moment.

"We can just…" She said. "Chill."

"And watch Netflix?" He smiled at her.

"Okay, I didn't want to say this, because I know it's bro-code for 'fuck', trust me, I've been there…" Josh laughed at her comment. "I just thought that we could have some fun, y'know. Without the 'fuck' part."

He stared at her in silence, his smiled slowly fading and she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Josh?" She called him and he looked at her. His eyes were trying to hide the sadness that was in his heart. "Are you-"

"Okay." He interrupted her. "We can just… Watch Netflix and chill. Literally."

He let out a fake laugh and Luna smiled at him. She thought about telling him again. But she didn't want to ruin what they had now. If he didn't her to know now, he would tell her later.

 _Wouldn't he?_

~ooOOoo~

A/N: ayyyyy, that's chapter two. im actually surprised with the amont of followers/favorites this story got in so less time, im not used to this, so thank you very very very, u made me very happy, sir.

i also got a review from """""guest"""and thanks very much.

If youre reading this, I love you.

also: Luna was inspired by eLLIOT ALDERSON OK, (and a little bit by darlene too) so yeah... she's a junkie lmao


	3. Chapter 3

_It don't run in our blood_

 _That kind of lux just ain't for us_

 _We crave a_ _ **different**_

 _Kind of buzz._

 _(Lorde)_

~ooOOoo~

"We talked. Bounded." Luna said, picking at her nails. She was sitting in front of Dr Hill, with her legs in front of her chest. "It was fun."

"Then why you look so thoughtful?"

She was silent for a moment. "I know what happened to him." She confessed. "I know how he feels. He says he's fine, but I know he's not. I wish he could stop lying to me." She bit her bottom lip. "I don't know what to do." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

"Do you care about him?" The doctor asked.

"Yes." It was almost an immediate answer.

"Then why don't you just ask him?"

"Oh, no, he'll tell me. I know he will." She said more to herself than to the doctor. It was true, it's been a while since she had read Josh's file and yet he hadn't opened himself for her.

"Luna?" The doctor called her, making her look at him. "Who is he?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she just took her backpack and walked towards the door.

"I think we're done." She said, without looking at him.

Dr Hill had already given up trying to make her stay when she left early. So he just closed her file and sighed.

On her way out, Luna met Josh and smirked at him. When he noticed her, he smiled and winked.

 _Another lie._

Luna didn't want to face the facts. Josh was _not_ fine and it wasn't a beaded bracelet spelling his name that would make him feel better.

~oOo~

"Hey, hot legs." Josh said as he walked out of building. Luna looked at her legs.

"What's wrong with my legs?" She asked, frowning.

"Oh, nothing." He smiled, shaking his head. "It's your tights that are the big deal… Literally."

Luna frowned even more, but smiled. "What?"

"They're just…" He raised his hands and widened his eyes. "So! Hot!"

She threw her head back, laughing. "Okay, pretty boy." She wiped a tear of her eyes. "Go easy with the Mary Jane will ya?"

"Mary Jane?" He pretended look for someone else. "I don't see any Mary Jane around here." He then looked at her. "But I see you." With a half smile, he looked at her with his best seductive look.

She just rolled her eyes and laughed, dropping her cigarette and reaching for her pocket.

"I'm joking!" He explained.

"I know, calm you tits!" She replied, putting a gum on her mouth. "Hey, wanna get high and hang out?"

"Nope, I'm good." He answered without looking at her. Luna sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, then just hang out. I know a theme park that is so small it barely fits a hundred people. Which is perfect, if you ask me, I hate crowed places."

Josh frowned. "Who goes to a theme park in the middle of the week?"

"People that have nothing better do to." She shrugged. "Us."

He made a face. But before the guilt could hit him, Luna took his hand and pulled him out of his place.

"C'mon, I'll show you the way!"

Luna led him to the metro station.

"The subway?" He complained. "Really?"

She just rolled her eyes.

"Rich people."

~oOo~

"You were right." Josh said when they arrived at the park. "It is small."

Luna rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry if the only theme park you've ever been was Disneyland, but this, your majesty, is where the commoners go. C'mon."

He watched as she ran to the ticket tent like a little kid.

 _Who's the kid now, huh?_

"Hey, Disneyland isn't that expensive, okay?" He said, going after her.

"Welcome to the New Americana Theme Park." The man on the tent said.

"I'll have two tickets." Luna said, reaching for her bag, but Josh was faster and gave the money to the man. She frowned, holding her money as Josh took the change and the two tickets. "I could've-"

"It's five bucks, shut up." He interrupted her, pushing her towards the park. She frowned even more, but decided to keep quiet.

"Okay, then." She sighed. "What do you wanna do first?"

"You."

Luna was a second or two in silence before turn her gaze to him.

"Lemme guess." She narrowed her eyes. "You're _joshing_ me?"

"Hey!" He laughed. "That's a good one."

"Thanks, pretty boy." She smiled at him. "C'mon, let's play."

You could say both of them acted like kids on a theme park. There were no lines; the park was pretty much empty. They could have fun and Josh didn't feel guilty in that day.

When it was getting dark, they decided to go to the Ferris wheel. Even though Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes the entire way up, she told Josh that it was her favorite part of the park.

"It doesn't look like it." He mocked her.

"This thing is hella old." She tightened her grip on the metal bar that kept them in place. "It looks like it's gonna fall apart at any second."

"You can hold on me if you're too scared." He teased her.

"Don't say that." She dared to open her eyes to look at his stupid grin. "I might actually do-"

She was interrupted by the sound of the small cabinet, followed by a false sensation of falling. Luna quickly grabbed his hand which also was holding the metal bar.

"Whoa, calm down!" He laughed. "We didn't even move."

"Shut up."

"If you're so afraid of falling, why are we even here?"

Luna opened her eyes and looked at the view, making Josh realize that they were already on the top.

"Because of this." She looked at the tiny building and the lights that were starting to appear. The sky was in a pastel shade of pink and orange as the sun set. "It makes worth the ride."

He nodded in silence and tried to hold her hand that was still on top of his, but she let him go soon as she realized what she was doing. A little embarrassed, she shoved her hand on her jacket pocket. He looked at her a little disappointed, if honest, and she just smirked at him.

"So you bring all the guys up here?" Josh joked, making Luna roll her eyes and hold a laugh.

"You are such a little shit." She gave him a small smile.

"I do my best." He shrugged.

"No, I don't bring all the guys up here." She sighed. "But one guy already brought me here. It used to be our place."

"Oh." Josh's smile disappeared. She looked at him, smiling.

"It was my brother." She nudged him on the shoulder.

"Oh, really?" He almost sighed in relief. "Didn't know you had a brother."

"I don't." Her voice was small, almost a whisper.

There was an awkward silence as Luna stared at the view. The confession caught him by surprise, like every other time that girl opened her mouth. Every day he learned something new about her. He wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure if he should. She was his friend, and, at the moment, the only one who was there for him, forcing him to hang out and have fun. So he decided to risk it.

"What happened?" He broke the silence.

Luna didn't answer right away, like if she was deciding if she was going to tell him her story so soon. But when she opened her mouth to say something, the Ferris wheels started moving again, making her sigh and grab at the metal bar again.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" It was Josh who broke the awkward silence, as they walked out of the park.

"Sure." She smiled at him. "But I'll pay."

"Yeah, you wish." He scoffed.

Luna rolled her eyes and shoved her hands on her pocket, only then noticing that her cellphone was vibrating.

"Hey, I just realized I don't have your number." Josh said when he saw her taking her phone and unlocking the screen.

She didn't answer, just stared at the phone screen.

"Luna?" He called her.

"What?" She looked at him, putting her phone at her pocket. "Actually, do you mind if we go to my place before we eat? I forgot something."

He was quiet for a moment. It wasn't like her to act like that, but he decided to go along with it.

"No, not at all." He replied her. "Lead the way, hot legs."

~oOo~

Luna's house wasn't what Josh was used to see. It wasn't big, but it wasn't small. It wasn't old, but it wasn't fresh new. He knew she wasn't poor, she'd always made a fortune with her smuggling, but among all of his friends, she was the one who had a low income.

"Uh…" She stopped at the porch steps. "Can you wait here? I don't want you to meet The Evil Stepmother." She smiled, awkwardly.

"Yeah, sure, no problem." He nodded and she turned on her heels, entering the house quickly.

Josh stood there for a few minutes, until he heard screaming from the inside. Slowly, he entered the porch and approached the door which was ajar.

"Don't fucking touch me!" He heard Luna's screams and opened the door.

Luna was being held by an older blonde woman who raised her hand to hit her. Both of them didn't seem to notice his presence, until he spoke.

"Luna?" His voice was small compared to the yells. "Sorry, the door was open." He tried to smile, but suddenly was intimidated by Nancy.

Luna abruptly let go of Nancy's grip, giving her the meanest look she could ever make.

"C'mon Josh." She took his hand and pulled him out of the house.

"Oh, are going to fuck him too, you little slut?" Nancy asked, following them outside. "You better not come back anytime soon, or your father will teach you a lesson!"

Her screams faded as they walked away from her. It wasn't until they were in the subway station that Luna spoke.

"Sorry you had to see that." She said, quietly.

"It's okay." He answered and watched as she took her phone from her pocket.

She was silent and Josh realized that that was the way she was when she was sad. He just stared at her as she looked around the station.

"I'm gonna…" She looked at him and noticed he was staring at her. "What?!"

"Nothing, nothing." He raised his hands.

"Okay…" She frowned. "Wait here, I'll go over there for a minute and-"

"What?!" He exclaimed. "You're going to leave me alone?! Here?!"

"Calm down, it's literally ten feet away." She replied. "I'm just gonna talk with that man in the suit over-"

She stopped talking when saw Josh's grin.

"You're _joshing_ me again, aren't you?"

He laughed out loud. "I liked that word, I'm keeping it."

Luna sighed and looked again at a man with a grey suit.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

Josh watched as Luna walked towards the man, shoving her hands on her pockets. She stopped right in front of and he see could that they were talking; Luna took a small plastic bag from her pocket and discretely gave it to him. The man gave her some dollar bills and walked away. Luna stood there, counting the money. Then, she walked towards Josh again.

"C'mon, let's get out of here." She said, once the train arrived, pulling Josh with her.

~oOo~

"So, this job of yours." Josh said, giving a big bite on his slice of pizza.

Pizza Hut was almost empty that day of the week. So, there was only Josh and Luna and one more couple inside of the restaurant.

"Is it dangerous?" He continued.

At first Luna shrugged, but then, she narrowed her eyes and gave him a half smile.

"Why, do you wanna join the team?" She joked.

"N-No, I'm just-"

"What, worried about me?" She interrupted him, and he didn't answer. "Oh my God, you are!"

"Well, you're my friend okay?" He confessed. "I know these kind of things are dangerous."

"Aw, that's cute." Luna bit her pizza. "But don't worry. The secret for this is to choose the right people."

"Yeah, but… Like, aren't you afraid?"

"I ain't afraid of nothing." She said serious and then laughed. "Besides, if you're worried that I'm gonna owe money for someone, I buy straight from the source. I sell to different smugglers so I'm basically their provider. They owe me."

He nodded in silence and they continued eating.

"Hey, can I crash at your place tonight?" She asked out of nowhere. "I'll leave in the morning; you won't even notice I'm there."

If Josh didn't know better, he would've said no. Mostly because he was used to being by himself in the silence of his room at night. But he had seen what happened back at Luna's place. He knew what would happen if she come back home that night.

"Yeah, sure." He nodded. "My parents won't even be home tonight."

"Oh, it will be like a sleepover?" She joked.

It was Josh's turn to roll his eyes.

"Or it's just another bro code for fuck?"

"Ok, I see what you're doing." He laughed and she followed him, smiling.

"Thank you." She said, after a brief silence.

"For what?"

"For doing this." She smiled.

"Why wouldn't I?"

 _Because you're going through a hard time._ Luna's thoughts were louder than Josh's voice and hope to God she didn't say it out loud.

"You're my friend, Luna." He said with a serious expression. "That's what friends do."

She gave him a small smile and went quiet for a moment.

"Yeah, just don't be too nice to me." She poked his shoulder.

"What?" He scoffed.

"Just… Don't treat me like I'm made of glass." She picked on her nails. "I mean, you know what happens in the Stillbloom's residence…" She smiled a bit. "But treat me like the badass I am."

Josh laughed. Luna giggled and looked at her nails, her smile slowly fading.

"What's wrong?" He asked, making her look at him.

She opened her mouth, but stopped. She then smirked at him and sighed.

"I might have to take another shower before sleeping." Her smirk turned into a half smile.

"Where you're going with this?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Hey, you're the one who said that your shower was better." She shrugged.

"Yeah." He laughed. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yep." She leaned closer. "But you can't spy. Don't need any more perverts in my life, y'know."

"Not even a hot smoking one?" He gave her a half smile.

Luna laughed, leaning back to her chair.

"You are so full of yourself."

~ooOOoo~

A/N: the chapters will start to get a little longer than these. i try to keep under 5k words, every time and try to cut the longer ones in two, but they still keep long lmao. i hope you don't mind.

Thank you for your reviews and follows and favorites. I love you 3


	4. Chapter 4

_Come away little light_

 _Come away to the darkness_

 _To the ones appointed to see it through_

 _We are calling for you_

 _ **We are coming for you.**_

 _(Maroon 5)_

~oOo~

Josh was lying on his bed while Luna took a shower on his bathroom. Staring at the ceiling, he sighed. It's been a while since he had a girl on his bedroom. His memories traveled way back when he had the first visit of a girlfriend. He was 17 or 16, he couldn't remember, but he knew it was a disaster. The twins were mocking him and disturbing them every time he tried something with his girlfriend. Back then, he was furious with them.

A small smile crossed his face as he remembered their faces.

"Josh." His eyes snapped open when he heard a familiar voice whisper his name.

It wasn't Luna, she was still on the shower. It was a _whisper_. He heard it, right in his ear and… He could swear it sounded like-

"Josh!" This time the voice came from outside. "I know you're in there, man!"

Josh stood up and looked at the window. In the dark light, he could see a pair of glasses shining.

"Chris?" Josh looked confused at him and then sprinted downstairs. "What-"

"Will you open already?" Chris said trough the glass door in the kitchen. "I rang the doorbell like fifty times."

"Sorry, I didn't-"

"Man, I know you need some space, but we need to talk." Chris cut him off and entered the house, going straight to the stairs.

"But-"

"No, you need to talk to me." He walked towards Josh's bedroom.

"Not in my-"

"I mean you're my best man, you have to-" He interrupted himself when he entered Josh's bedroom and heard the shower running. "You have someone in your shower?"

"Is-Is my, uh…" Josh stuttered. "Is my-"

"Hey, pretty boy?!" Luna yelled from the bathroom, interrupting the conversation and turning off the shower. Chris' jaw dropped and he looked at Josh. "It is okay if I use this towel over here?!"

"What?" Chris mouthed to Josh, who gave him a shut-up look.

"Uh… Yeah, suit yourself!" Josh replied. "I'm gonna go to the kitchen, do you want something to eat?!"

"We just ate, genius!"

"Oh, yeah! Right, uh…"

"Are you okay?" He could hear her laugh on the bathroom.

"Yeah, um, I'll just-" He sighed. "I'll be downstairs if you need something."

Josh pulled an eye widened Chris out of the bedroom and closed the door.

"You have a girl in your shower?!" The blonde man exclaimed as they rushed downstairs.

"Shh, she'll hear you." Josh scolded his friend.

"Wow, man." Chris breathed. "Guess you're better than I thought, huh?"

"Shut up, it's not like that." Josh replied.

Chris looked at him and scoffed. "Right." He said. "You're going to tell me that you're not getting some with the girl on your shower?"

Josh wanted to explain everything to his best friend. Spill out some locked up feelings, talk to someone that wouldn't write everything down. But he couldn't. He couldn't talk about Luna, who was she, why she was there. He couldn't just tell everything about her to him, he couldn't expose her life like that.

"Okay, fine." Josh lied. "I am hooking up with her."

"Aw, man!" Chris almost yelled, making Josh jump. "How she looks like?"

"Hot?" He found it weird talking about his friend like that. Even though Chris didn't know Luna, it was not okay to talk about her like that.

"Does she have a hot friend?"

Josh frowned. "What about Ashley?"

"Oh, right." His friend shook his head. "I don't think it's gonna work."

"What, why, man?"

"It's just… I don't know." Chris shrugged.

"Just get together already." Josh joked.

"Hey, it's not that easy-"

"Josh!" Luna interrupted both again. Wrapped in a towel, she was standing at the ajar door in his room. "Can I borrow a shirt?! It's not like I planned on this, y'know."

There was a silence before the answer. "Sure!" His voice echoed on the kitchen.

Before Luna could answer, she heard an unfamiliar laugh coming from downstairs followed by a "shh" sound. She frowned and stood there, instead of looking for the shirt. There was a brief silence before the unknown voice start to talk again.

"Man, it's weird having silence in this house." Chris sighed. "Remember when your sisters would always bug us while we'd play video games?"

Josh didn't answer. He just leaned on the kitchen counter and looked at the ground. Luna silently opened the door and stepped outside to hear the conversation.

"Heard your parents are gonna make a memorial."

Josh didn't answer again. Luna tiptoed towards the stairs and kept quiet. She knew he had others friends, but she thought Josh didn't want nothing with them. He never said a word about them for her, she just assumed that he had cut them off.

"Hey, man, if you need anything-"

"I'm fine." Josh interrupted Chris.

Chris stared at his friend without saying a word and an awkward silence filled the place. Luna could swear they could hear her breathing.

"You can't be fine, dude, you just lost-"

"Well, I am!" Josh snapped, cutting Chris off once more. "I'm sick and tired of people treating me like that, it's _my_ broken heart, I decide what to do with it!"

Luna's stomach sank when she heard those words. The fact that he had all those feelings (and probably more) and pretending he was okay for her, all these lies broke _her_ heart. She knew exactly how he felt; losing someone he loved so much. She knew the devastated feeling that was consuming him.

"Yeah, yeah." Chris said after a few seconds staring at Josh in silence. "You're right, man. I'm sorry."

Josh nodded, looking to the floor.

"Just… Call me if you want to hang out or whatever." The blonde man said. "I miss hanging out with my buddy."

A brief silence followed by a sigh that Chris let out.

"Alright, then. See ya." The blonde said and walked out of the place through the same door he walked in with a disappointed look on his face, making Josh immediately regret his actions

The dark haired man sighed, leaning his forehead on the glass door and closing his eyes.

He didn't want to be harsh on his friend, but he couldn't choose any worse time for going to his house. Not only because the phase he was going through, but also because Luna was there.

He turned around and opened the kitchen cabinet, taking his medicine bottle from there. He took two pills off the bottle, and just stared at them. It was obvious that the antidepressants weren't working on him. So what was the point of taking them?

Josh threw the pills on in sink and turned the tap on. Once the two pills went down on the drain, he dried his hands and went upstairs.

He found Luna wearing one of his gray T-shirts, staring at the window, with her back faced to him. He couldn't help but noticed that his shirt was too big for her; the end of it reached passed the middle of her tights. That, or she was too short.

 _Probably the second option._

"Do you want a picture?" She asked, bringing him back to reality. Her voice sounded like she was smiling as she spoke.

"Actually, that would be great." He replied sitting in his bed.

"I hate you." She laughed, turning to face him.

"Nah, you looo-ve me." He laughed.

She rolled her eyes and decided to ignore his last comment.

"So, what time your folks come home tonight?" She asked.

"Pretty late." He shrugged. "It's their anniversary, so they'll stay away for a while, if you know what I mean."

She made a face.

"Gross." She said, sitting in the bed, in front of him. "So, am I supposed to sleep here with you?"

He half smiled at her and leaned on the wall. "If that's what you want, babe."

"Shut up, will ya?" She said, crossing her arms.

Josh's eyes went straight to her tights, where his shirt went up and exposed more of her skin and just a little bit of her underwear.

"Eyes up here, soldier." She said smirking.

He felt his cheeks burn and looked away, trying to hide it from her. But it was already too late.

"Are you blushing?" She asked, a smile starting to grow on her face.

"No." He muttered.

"Oh, my God, you are!" She laughed out loud.

"Shut up!" He said, standing up. "C'mon, I'll show you your room."

Smiling, Luna grabbed her backpack and followed him through the huge corridors on his house. She wondered if it looked like that when she broke in on the week before. He entered a room in the end of the corridor and she entered it behind him, dropping her jaw when looking at the room.

It was the biggest guest bedroom she had ever seen. There was a king-sized bed and a ridiculous giant vintage wardrobe with a full body mirror on the door. A flat screen TV was in the wall parallel with the bed and a big window with a balcony was on the other side of the room. Josh walked towards the wardrobe and opened a door of it, revealing to be a _bathroom_ inside of it.

"Bathroom." He said.

Luna nodded with widened eyes. "Yeah, I can see that." She breathed. "This is … Too much."

"What?"

"I mean look at this bed." She pointed to the bed. "It's really fucking big."

"Yeah?"

"I think I better stick with just the couch, right?" She laughed turning around to leave the room, but Josh grabbed her upper arm and held her in place.

"No, listen." He said, pulling her towards the bed. "You can stay here."

"No, Josh, I-" She said. "I can't accept this, I'm not… Worth of this."

He frowned and looked at her for a moment. He'd never seen her like that; she was so uncomfortable with him giving a whole new bedroom for her to spend the night. She was used with the couch or even the floor. The bedroom looked like a five star hotel room and that scared her.

"What- Luna…" He said. "You're my guest, this is where guests stay." He pulled her to bed and she sat on it, her expression slightly relaxing. "I'm gonna be in my room, if you need anything."

He started to walk away from the room, but stopped and turned around to face her again. She was lying on the bed with face buried on the sheets. The shirt she was wearing was raised completely, revealing her white panties and, consequently, her butt.

He crossed his arms and cleared his throat, looking at the ground.

"Luna?" He called her.

"Yeah?" She responded, her voice muffled by the sheets.

"I can see your ass."

"I don't even care, this is best bed I've ever laid on." She said, face still on the bed.

Josh laughed and shook his head.

"See you in the morning, hot legs."

~oOo~

Josh woke up in the next morning with a whisper on his ear. Exactly like the one he had heard on the night before. A small whisper calling his name, but when he snapped his eyes open, it was gone. For a second he thought I could've been Luna playing with him, but she wasn't in the room when he woke up. And that voice sounded nothing like Luna. Suddenly, he felt a cold wind in the room and noticed his window was open.

 _I don't remember letting the window open last night._

He stood up, rubbing his eyes socket with his knuckles and closed the window. Only, then he smelled bacon coming from the kitchen and his mind flew straight to Luna. He knew she was capable of exploring the kitchen, or even the house; a curious thing she was. Walking straight downstairs, he expected to find his friend making breakfast for them. And he did.

It just wasn't the friend he was expecting to be.

He found Ashley in the oven, frying the bacon and Chris and Samantha sitting on the counter. The three of them stopped talking when saw Josh with eyebrows furrowed, wearing nothing but his sweater pants.

"Told you he would wake up with the smell." Ashley giggled.

"Guys?" Josh asked.

"Hey, sorry for the surprise." Chris said. "It was Sam's idea."

Josh looked at Sam.

"Guilty." She shrugged. "Just thought it would be nice if we hang out a little. It's been a while since we don't talk." The blonde woman smiled to him.

Josh nodded slowly. "Yeah," He said. "I'll just… Change."

Chris frowned, finding weird how easy he agreed, but then he remembered the girl on his shower.

Josh ran upstairs, but instead of entering his room, he went straight to the guest bedroom and knocked slightly on the door.

"Luna?" He whispered her name and slowly opened the door.

The bedroom was empty. The bed was tidy and the window was open. A note rested on the bed and he picked up to see a handwriting he never saw before.

 _Hey, pretty boy! Thank you for letting me stay the night. Your parents got home reeeally drunk in the morning, so I decided to take off before they noticed that there was a strange on their house. You have my number now, so text me if you wanna get high and make bad decisions._

 _Luna._

 _p.s.: Thanks for yesterday, it was awesome. (Also, I'm keeping your shirt. Sorry, not sorry.)_

He laughed at the note and folded the small paper, keeping on his pocket.

~oOo~

Josh sat on the couch of the living room on that night. After avoiding all kind of questions from the trio that visited him on the morning, they decided to go for a hike. Sam's idea. She liked that kind of stuff, so she kinda forced them to go. They had lunch together, talked a lot. Josh recognized that Ashley was deeply sorry for being part of the prank.

 _Of course. Now that she's dead, you're sorry._

Sam and Josh could talk a little and he noticed she was in pain too. She was Hannah's best friend and she knew what was like to lose her. She was the only one who understood him. He actually never paid attention on her; he thought she was just another of his sisters' friends that had a crush on him, but he realized she cared more about Hannah than he thought.

He didn't know for how long he was there, sitting on the couch and staring at the turned off TV, until he heard the same whisper than before. The same voice that he couldn't tell if he knew or not.

"Why did you leave me?" The voice wasn't calling his name this time, but it was still there. It whispered right in his ear and he felt a chill through his entire body.

Sighing, he turned the TV on and took his phone from his pocket. He decided to do what he knew best: annoy Luna.

 _Josh: Hey hot legs ;)_

He switched to a channel where some reality show was playing on. He didn't care that much about reality shows, he thought it was stupid, but he'd do anything to get distracted. And that was when Luna replied to him.

 _Hot Legs: hey pretty boy_

 _Josh: Why you left so early?_

Josh noticed that she didn't take too long to respond him, answering almost immediately, like they were talking in person.

 _Hot Legs: you didnt get my note? Your folks got home pretty drunk so i left before they noticed a stranger on their house… also your friends like to invade your house too? i thought i was the only one who did that…_

 _Josh: Haha, yeah, Sam knows where we keep the spare key_

 _Hot Legs: sam?_

 _Josh: Yeah, one of my sisters friend._

Luna too a little while to reply to that one. He had never talked about his sisters to her. When she read the text, she sat up on her bed (which she was laid on) and almost dropped the weed she was smoking. She didn't know what to say; she couldn't say anything, she was trying to avoid awkward moments and he still didn't know that she knew the truth. With trembling hands, she typed the answer.

 _Luna: ok, anyway, i had to escape through your window for them not to see me… scratched my knee on that damn tree, you owe me a pantyhose btw_

 _Pretty Boy: I owe you a what?_

Luna sighed.

 _Luna: nevermind, i got your shirt, call it even._

Josh laughed, slipping down on the sofa and lying down.

 _Josh: So what ur doing right now?_

 _Hot Legs: getting stoned, you?_

 _Josh: Just chilling._

 _Hot Legs: thats lame_

 _Josh: Sorry if I don't want to become a junkie._

In his face, there was a large grin.

 _Hot Legs: how dare you?! i am NOT a junkie!_

 _Hot Legs: ok, i do morphine and weed, but only sometimes ok!_

 _Josh: Relax, ok, I'm joking!_

 _Hot Legs: i hate you._

 _Josh: Come over._

 _Hot Legs: why_

 _Josh: Because I'm asking._

 _Hot Legs: no, thats bro code for fucking_

 _Josh: What's up with you and bro codes?_

 _Josh: I'm not gonna fuck you, don't worry._

 _Josh: Unless you want me to ;)_

 _Hot Legs: i literally hate you._

 _Josh: No, you don't._

 _Josh: So, you're coming?_

There was silence before the answer.

 _Hot Legs: i cant. sorry._

 _Josh: Aw, why? ):_

 _Hot Legs: you know…. evil stepmother and shit._

Josh didn't answer right away. Luna threw away the last of the weed she was smoking, kinda disappointed. Smoking weed didn't have the same effect on her than before. She hoped he wasn't too upset with her. Or that she was trying to avoid him.

 _Pretty Boy: Oh_

 _Luna: thats kinda why i wanna get stoned rn_

 _Pretty Boy: Fair enough._

 _Luna: so… u wanna get high?_

 _Pretty Boy: Nope_

 _Luna: you are so lame_

 _Pretty boy: Thank you._

The girl smiled at the phone. They stood "in silence" and she decided to break it.

 _Luna: josh?_

 _Pretty boy: Yeah?_

 _Luna: thanks for yesterday._

 _Pretty Boy: I read your note. You already said that, dummy_

 _Luna: yeah, no, i mean thanks for being here when thing almost went south…_

Josh stared at the phone screen and remembered the fight Luna almost got with her stepmother. He didn't think those kind of things affected her somehow, until that moment. She always acted like it wasn't a big deal, but now he knew it was. Because in that moment, he realized she was just like him.

 _Josh: No problem. And whenever you need a place to crash in, my doors will always be open._

 _Hot Legs: so i dont have to break in again?_

He laughed.

 _Josh: No, hot legs. No breaking in anymore_

 _Hot Legs: :)_

 _Josh: Soooo, wanna hang out tomorrow?_

 _Hot Legs: thought youd never ask_

~oOo~

There was ice everywhere. He wasn't sure where he was until the lights went on and he saw himself inside of the ski lodge. The floor and walls were covered with ice that made him slip as he walked. The air was cold but he didn't shiver as he walked towards the front door. Reaching for the doorknob, he felt a chill on his spine when heard a voice calling him.

"Josh! We need you!"

It was Hannah's voice.

"Josh, where are you?!" This time it was Beth's voice.

Josh looked behind him and saw Hannah and Beth on the floor that was suddenly covered in thick layers of snow. Both of them had frostbite on their fingers and noses; tears streamed down their faces, freezing immediately.

His eyes started to water and he looked away, as they screamed his name.

"Josh!" Beth yelled.

"Where were you?!"Hannah's voice echoed the place.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I'm sorry."

He crouched, putting his hands on his head, feeling the tears stream down his cheeks.

"You should've been there, Josh." Beth spat.

"I know." He answered, squeezing his eyes shut.

"If only you had stopped the prank." Hannah whispered.

"I know, I know, I know." He repeated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Hannah. I'm sorry Beth. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

He rocked himself, repeating the words to himself. Suddenly, he felt the cold go away and saw himself inside of Luna's living room.

"You okay?" Luna asked him from the sofa. He stood up and looked at her. She smiled at him, showing her white teeth.

"L-Luna?" It was all he could say.

She stopped smiling and stood up. Only then he saw she was just wearing a pink silk robe. One of his sisters' robes.

"I've been waiting for this." She said, unlacing the ribbon that closed the robe. "Since I met you."

She let the robe fall on the ground and Josh's jaw dropped. In her naked body, there was a lot of bruises, some of them bright purple and others fading.

"I am pretty, Josh?" She asked him, looking straight in his eyes.

He slowly nodded and took a deep breath.

"You think so?" She insisted. "You don't think that these marks that my evil stepmother gave me are ugly?"

"You're… You're beautiful." He almost stuttered.

Luna smiled at him for a moment and he smiled back. Her smile, then, faded away and her eyebrows furrowed, like if someone had told her a cruel thing. She started to breathe heavily and tears filled her eyes as she looked away to the floor.

"Oh, my God." She breathed and looked back at Josh. "Josh!"

He frowned, confused. "What?"

"You killed them!" She exclaimed with a desperate look on her eyes. "You killed them, Josh!"

He looked to the floor as she kept screaming and saw his sisters' body lying there. A large puddle of blood surrounded them and Luna fell on her knees screaming and crying.

Josh snapped his eyes open and sat down on the bed, covered in cold sweat. Breathing heavily, he looked at the window and saw it was snowing.

 _Snow? In California?_

"Josh?" He heard Luna's voice beside him and saw she was lying on the bed with him. She moved closer as he lay again on the bed. "What happened?"

"When did you get here?" He asked confused.

"Don't you remember?" She replied, snuggling on him. "I was too scared to sleep in my house."

"Why?" He let her hug him and hesitant hugged her back.

"My evil stepmother." She breathed. "Josh, you're the only one who can protect me."

She slowly closed her eyes and he felt a smile on the corner of his lips.

"I'll do my best." He closed his eyes, slowly.

She laughed lightly and went quiet for a moment.

"Josh." Her voice was nothing more than a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"You killed them, Josh."

He opened his eyes and saw his sisters' standing next to his bed.

"You killed us, Josh." They whispered together.

"You killed them." Luna repeated.

"And now, you will pay.

The last thing he saw before he woke up was Hannah and Beth walking towards him, putting their hands on his neck, along with Luna.

~oOo~

A/N: woah, last chapter had the worse feedback ever, but ok ok, I'll be fine, I just hope you're enjoying this fanfic as much as I am.

you'll noticed that with the time, I'll run out of ideas so I'll just skip the time line and before you see it, they'll be in the lodge already. That'll be around chapter 12 or 13. SO WAIT. It's gonna be good I promise you.

Thanks you for your reviews, follows and favorites (:


	5. Chapter 5

_What makes you feel so alone?_

 _Was it the whispering_ _ **ghosts**_

 _That you feared the most?_

 _(City and Colour)_

~ooOOoo~

Josh had been having nightmares every night since then. He would dream about his sisters, snow or winter and would always wake up covered with cold sweat. Sometimes, he would dream he was saving them. That he stopped the prank and they were still there with him. But those were rare nights.

He'd been hearing voices too. Hannah's, Beth's. Voices telling him he was the guilty, telling that he didn't deserve to be alive. Voices telling him that someone should pay for what happened to his little sisters.

"Don't you just fucking love going outside without the need of wearing a pantyhose?" Luna said as he walked out of the building as usual. "I fucking love spring."

She walked towards him and lit a cigarette.

"Sun's up, no cold winds, no heavy coats." She smiled at him. "Fuck me up, spring."

Josh just sighed and nodded, avoiding looking at her.

"You okay?" Luna asked. He nodded once more.

They stood like that in silence as she thought of what to say. It was clear that he wasn't okay; something had been bothering him for a while and she knew it.

"Really?" She insisted.

"I'm just tired, okay?" He replied, a little rude.

"Okay." She said, quietly, after a second or two in silence.

She stared at him for a while as he stared at the ground.

"C'mon." She said after she let out a sigh. "I want to show you something."

Josh looked at Luna was already walking away from him.

"Luna," He sighed. "I don't want any weed."

"It's not weed." She replied. "C'mon."

She stopped walking when noticed he was behind her.

"Josh, it's not drugs, I promise you."

He sighed again and rolled his eyes as he walked towards her; Luna smiled a bit at his attitude and starting walking again.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked after a minute in silence.

"My bedroom." She replied without looking at him.

He looked at her and a half smile crossed his mouth as the dirtiest thought came to his mind.

"Stop." She said when saw the look he was giving her. "It's not like that."

"Oh, really?" He teased her. "Then why would you invite me to enter your bedroom?"

"Because I think it's time."

He waited for her to say more, but she didn't.

"Time for…?"

"For you to get to know me." She shrugged.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "And all that time you were just faking?"

"Yep." She smiled a bit. "I mean no. I was just… Let's just say that you know Luna Stillbloom and a few of her secrets."

"Yeah?" He was confused.

"And now, you're about to meet Luna."

"Still don't get it."

She sighed. "You'll see."

Josh smiled and followed her.

~oOo~

"What about your stepmother?" Josh asked as they entered her house.

"She's outta town with my father." Luna replied as she ran upstairs. She stopped at a door at the end of the hallway. "Don't mind the mess, I don't spend much time on here, but it's still my most secret place. Don't judge me."

"I won't." He laughed.

She gave him a small smile as she opened the door. "Behold. My secret world."

Her dramatic entrance made him chuckle as he entered the room after her. At first, he was surprised by the mess it was; clothes and shoes were all over the floor, the bed was untidy and if he inhaled deeply, he could feel the scent of marijuana. But then, something caught his attention. The walls were covered in millions of sketches of landscapes and animals and even people.

"Sorry about the smell." She said, opening a window.

"You made these?" He ignored her apologize, looking at the walls with his eyes widened.

"Yeah." She felt her cheeks burn and looked away as she picked the clothes that were in her one-person bed and shoved it in her small closet. "Make yourself comfortable."

She smiled at him a bit as she sat on the floor, facing the bedside table. Josh sat on the bed, still staring at the drawings in the walls.

"This is good." He mumbled. "You're very talented."

She looked at him as she went through her stuff. "Oh, those are just my old sketches. I kept the new ones in a secret place."

"You have more?!" He looked at her, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah…?" She took a bottle of medicine of her bag. Josh took a look closer and saw it was antidepressants. Same brand as his. She put the bottle on the bedside table and shoved her hand on the backpack again.

"Can I see it?" He asked after a moment in silence.

"See what?" She took another bottle of medicine from her backpack and place beside the antidepressants. There was no label on the orange container, so he didn't know what was for.

"Your sketches." He replied.

Luna just stared at him for a moment and then shook her head, looking away from him. "Nah, they're just… Silly drawings, bunch of lines together, you wouldn't like it."

"Try me." He shrugged and smirked. "You said I'd meet the real you."

She looked at the morphine and at the antidepressants in front of her. Luna decided to give up. Maybe he wouldn't be so scared of her at the end. If she only told him little by little, he wouldn't run away like the others.

Sighing, she moved to the corner of the room, near by her closet and kneeled on the ground. Pulling a loose board of the floor, she took a worn out binder out of there. Standing up, she walked towards him and gave him the binder.

Looking her in the eye, he gave her a small smile and took it. Inside of it, there were lots of papers containing better drawing than the ones at the walls. He observed them carefully, like if he was going to ruin them. He thought it was so interesting and he never imagined someone like her liked that kind of hobby.

He noticed that she liked drawing trees and the ocean. There were people too. A bunch of random faces drew on several papers.

"Who's that?" He pointed to the drawing of an old lady.

Luna was still standing in front of him, observing every single reaction as he went through her drawings. She sat beside him and looked at the sketch with a small smile on her face.

"That's Ms. Ross." She replied. "She was my favorite teacher in school."

"What did she teach?" Josh was getting curious.

"History." She looked at him.

As Josh passed the drawings, she was telling a little of people's stories. It was always a random man, or a homeless family, or even a dog or a cat.

"So you just look at the person and draw them?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Pretty much. I have a good memory."

He smiled. "Never thought you were the artist type."

She laughed, showing all of her teeth. He stared at her for a second and then flipped the page. She looked at the drawing and her smile instantly disappeared. He frowned and looked at it.

It was a boy. A young boy with light eyes and wavy dark hair. There was a half smile on his face that reminded Josh of Luna's face when she made a joke.

"Who's that?" He asked, running his finger through the sketch.

Luna stared at the drawing for a moment and then sighed.

"That's my brother." She answered quietly, playing with the bracelets on her wrist.

Josh didn't know what to say. He had no idea of what happened to her and to her brother, and being honest, he didn't think that he the best person for giving advises. So they sat there in silence for a moment until Luna spoke.

"Which reminds me." She stood up and opened the drawer of the bedside table. "I have something to give to you."

He frowned. "Me?"

"It's lame." She picked the bracelet from the drawer and gave it to him. "But I just wanted to thank you for… Y'know… Being a friend and… Whatever."

Josh opened his hand and saw the bracelet she had out on it. It was a simple beaded blue bracelet with his name spelled on it. He looked at her as she sat on the floor again, taking two pills of each bottle of medicine.

"You made this?" He asked, smiling at bit.

"Yeah." She didn't look at him as she took the antidepressants and swallowed them.

He went silent for a moment and she noticed; looking at him, she turned to face him.

"When I was little, I didn't like being away from my brother." She said. "So, he taught me how to make these bracelets and told me whenever I wore them, he was going to be with be." She raised her arm and showed two bracelets. One spelled her own name and other spelled her brother's name, Glenn. "See?" She smiled at him. "It's not the original, but… I like keeping a part of his story with me."

He gave her small smile as curiosity crept into him and his mouth was faster than his thoughts. "What happened to him?"

She shook her head, swallowing, and he called her again.

"Luna?"

Luna stared at him for a moment and then sighed, lying on the floor, using her clothes as a pillow.

"You never wondered why I hate crowded places?" She said.

He had. Every time that they use to hang out, Luna would always suggest a quiet place, with almost no people around. That bugged him in the beginning of their friendship, but now he was used to. Josh liked crowded parties, where you could get drunk and dance in the middle of hundreds of sweaty people.

"When I was ten, my brother, my mom and I went to Disney World." She laughed at herself. "At Summer, my father had a business trip to New York, so in the first opportunity we got, we took a plane straight to Florida. It was so cool, the toys, the princesses, the roller coasters. We had fun." She smiled for a second, but then it disappeared from her face. "But it was so crowed." She whispered. "There were so many people I had to grab Glenn's shirt to not get lost. But still… Mom was getting cotton candy for us and let us waiting on line to the roller coaster. I turn my back for one minute… " She paused, choking back the tears. "And he's gone." She swallowed.

There was a big moment of silence as Josh realized she was just like him. Same story, same issues. They were one and the same.

"Someone took him?" He heard the sound of his own voice asking.

"Honestly." She sat down and looked at him, with red eyes. "Looking back now, I think he ran away."

"Why?"

"He was sixteen." She shrugged. "I think he knew how to avoid strangers. Plus, things at home were never okay."

"I'm sorry." Josh looked down to the drawing again.

"Oh, don't be." Luna shrugged, taking the bottle of morphine. "I understand him, now."

"What?" He frowned, looking back to her.

"I'd run away too." She took one pill from the bottle and placed on a rounded silicone container. "I just wouldn't leave my little sister behind."

He watched as she smashed the morphine until it turned to dust.

"Do you need a hug?" He half smiled at her. She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Don't touch me." She warned him, but had a smirk on her face.

"Too late." He said, literally throwing himself against her.

Luna let out a scream as he fell on top of her, holding her hard; his head on her chest and his arms around her waist. Both laughed as they felt the cold hard ground.

"No!" She laughed. "Let me goooo!"

"Nope!"

They were laughing for a second or two, and then the silence crept on the room again. Luna sighed as she put her hand on his hair, making him look at her. They looked each other in the eye in silence before they realize what they were doing.

Josh cleared his throat as he stood up and Luna's cheeks turned red, as she sat on the ground again. They were in silence for a while.

"So, uh…" Luna said, standing up. "You wanna go downstairs and order some pizza? We could watch Fresh Prince of Bel Air and chill." Se smiled, awkwardly.

He stared at her for a moment, wondering if he would stay or not. Now that he knew she was like him, he knew she was the only one who'd understand him. But he wasn't ready to open up to her. He couldn't stay.

"I can't." Josh shook his head and Luna's smile disappeared. "I have to go, my parents are probably worried-"

"No, stay!" She cut him off. "You just got here!"

"I'm sorry."

She looked at him with a look he'd never seen before on her. It was like something had sucked all the happiness and energy from her face.

"You can't go." She said, gazing the ground.

"Why?" He swore he thought she was going to cry. But when she lifted her head, her eyes were angry.

"I just told you the reason why I'm fucked up." Despite the angry look on her face, her voice was calm. "Please don't be like them."

He frowned. "Like who?"

"Everyone." She softened her look and he thought he had seen tears on her eyes, but it was just an impression. "They never stay. My 'friends'. My father, even though he's here pretty much everyday. My brother…" She swallowed and whispered the next two words. "My mother."

"Luna-"

"Just, please." She interrupted him again. "Please, stay the night. Call your parents, tell them you're going to crash in in some friend's place, just…" She sighed. "Please prove me that… You're still going to be my friend after this."

He looked at her surprised that she was actually saying that. He had never seen her like that, so desperate for his company. For any company. For him, Luna was of the people who seemed to like being on their own company; a good faker apparently. He, then, took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay." He gave up. "I'll stay."

~oOo~

Luna looked at a sleeping Josh on the sofa bed on her living room with tears streamed down on her face. They were so busy singing the lyrics of the Fresh Prince opening and laughing that she forgot of doing morphine. And the pain she was holding in burst out in the moment Josh closed his eyes. Of course talking about it earlier helped with the tears, but she blamed the morphine.

The moonlight coming from the no curtain window lit Josh's face that slept like a baby. Luna slowly moved out of the covers to not wake him up and stood beside him. Turning off the TV, she walked lightly towards the stairs.

Kneeling in front of her bedside table, she looked at the lines of the medicine that were still on it. She turned her head sideways and looked at the drawing of her brother. More tears filled up her eyes as she snorted the drug.

Throwing her head backwards and closing her eyes, she felt the morphine consume her body as she snorted again. Taking Josh's shirt from her backpack, she dressed herself on it and some pajamas shorts.

She felt her heart broken for the first time in a long time. She wasn't the person who would have a lots of friends, most of people would avoid her during her time on school and the ones who talked to her wanted to take advantage of her, after finding out she had drugs to sell.

Josh's was Luna's first and longer friend. Getting all those feelings out for the first time in years almost killed her. It hurt so much on her heart that she couldn't stop crying as she lay on the floor, hugging herself.

~oOo~

Josh snapped his eyes open as the voices of his nightmare still echoed on his mind. He saw himself wearing the same clothes of the day before and looked around. It took him one full minute to remember he was still at Luna's place. Or was he still dreaming like before?

He stood up, feeling a little dizzy and called for Luna. He was still sweating and the voices wouldn't leave him alone, creating a big mess on his head.

"Luna!" He called her again, a little louder than before.

He stumbled across the room and took a deep breath.

"This is not real." He mumbled. "Luna!"

He yelled her name once more, as he tripped over something and fell with his knees on the floor. He heard footsteps coming closer to him and closed his eyes.

"Josh!" It was a different voice this time. When he opened his eyes and saw Luna kneeled beside him with a hand on his shoulder.

 _This is not real. She's not real._

"Josh!" She called him once more. "What happened?"

He frowned at her, confused.

"I don't…" He breathed. "I don't know what to believe…"

"You had a nightmare?" She said. "You're awake now. It's fine, it wasn't real."

Josh looked straight in her eyes and noticed they were puffy and red.

"Hey, c'mere." She pulled him for a hug.

He hugged her back, holding her close. His nails dug into her shirt and he closed his eyes, letting a tear stream down his face.

"You're okay." She whispered, holding her own tears back.

Luna felt her emotions coming back and tried to pull herself together. She had to be strong for him. She knew what he was going through and the best she could do, was being there for him.

~oOo~

Luna woke up in her own bed in the next morning. With blurred vision, she frowned as she sat, looking at the mattress on the floor beside the bed. The events of the night before were still clear on her mind. After Josh had woken up from a nightmare, she let him sleep on her bed, taking the mattress for herself.

She rubbed her eyes and looked at the empty mattress once more. The cover was perfectly folded on top of the pillow. Still confused, she picked up her phone and noticed there was a text from Josh.

 _Pretty Boy: Hey, hot legs! Thanks for the night, it was really fun. I like spending time with you ;) See ya next Wednesday._

She smiled at the phone and checked the time it was sent. 11:37. She, then looked at the actual time. 11:40.

 _He just sent this._

The noise of the front door shutting frightened her and she jumped out of the bed and ran to the stairs.

"Wait!" She yelled, but stopped by the foot of the stairs to realize it was only her stepmother at the door.

Nancy frowned at the girl like she was crazy and opened her mouth to say something, but Luna was quicker and ran upstairs again. Taking her pajamas shorts, she put the same shorts she was wearing on the day before the fastest she could. Grabbing her backpack and her boots, she stormed out of the room, stumbling as she put on the shoes.

"Where you going?!" Nancy asked her, but was ignored as the girl stepped outside the porch.

Breathless, she looked around in look of any sign of Josh. She sighed frustrated when she didn't find him and ran to the subway. She needed to talk to him, she needed him to talk about what was going on. Talk with someone who'd understands, who'd listen to him.

The travel to Josh's house seemed to be so slow, when she wanted to get there so bad. When she finally got out of the station, she ran the fastest she could.

She could see his house just a few meters away. A taxicab stopped in front of him and Josh came out of it, making her sigh, smiling. She raised her arm and opened his mouth to call him, but stopped when saw a blonde girl standing in front of the huge gate of his house. She smiled at him and both hugged.

"Sam!" She heard his voice call her.

Luna frowned as she felt a twinge in her heart.

"What?" She breathed to herself.

 _Why am I so upset?_

She knew Josh had other friends, of course he had. He was a nice guy with a big house and lots of money, of course he was popular enough to have friends.

Then why was she so jealous of that girl? Why she was starting to feel like Josh was only Luna's? When did she become so possessive over him?

Luna took a deep breath and turned around, walking away from the house. She knew now what he needed. She thought he had to talk about it to feel better, but he only needed _space_.

"Look where you're going, you punk!" A woman exclaimed to her when she collided with her as she walked fast.

"Sorry." She mumbled and walked faster.

Josh frowned and looked at a glimpse of faded blue hair turning around the corner. He hadn't much time to think about it, because Sam interrupted his thoughts.

"I just came by to see how you doing." She said, a small, shy smile on her face.

"Y- Yeah, come in." He smiled at her and typed the password to the gate.

When they entered the house, Josh immediately regretted of inviting her in. But she was Hannah's best friend, he couldn't say no.

"So, what's up?" Sam asked as they sat on the sofa of the guest living room.

He just shrugged.

"How are you feeling, Josh?" She looked right into his eyes.

He had that feeling again, the need of telling her everything, telling her about the voices, the nightmares, everything. But she wouldn't understand, of course not. He decided to lie to her, however, his lips were faster than his mind.

"Not okay." He replied.

Sam frowned, tears filling her eyes as she watched him look down to his hands.

"I miss them, Sam." He choked in his words. "I miss Hannah mocking of everything I do, I miss Beth bossing me around, I miss them so much…"

Tears started to stream down his face as Sam hugged him, crying too.

"I know." She breathed. "I miss them too."

He raised his head and looked at her.

"You understand." He said.

"I do, Josh." She nodded. "That's what I was trying to say when we came over in that day. I know how it feels. Hannah is gone and I feel like a part of me is dead."

He nodded desperately to her, finally realizing she was feeling the same as him.

"You tried to stop them, didn't you?"

Sam stared at him for a moment before answering.

"I… I tried."

"Still did better than me." He pushed away from her.

She shook her head. "It's not your fault-"

"How could not be?!" He exclaimed, interrupting her. "I should've taken care of them. I should've… I should've… Done something…"

The voices started mumbling in his head again.

"Josh-"

"No, they killed them!" He started to get mad.

"You have to forgive them!" She argued.

He let out a laugh, standing up. "Forgive them?!"

Sam stood up to face him.

"You expect to forgive them, after they humiliated Hannah and made both of sisters go on an mountain adventure that got they killed?!"

"Josh!" She said. "They will be still gone if you don't let it go."

"Same as if I do." He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Josh." She said after a second in silence. "If they didn't say that, I'm apologizing for them. We. Are. Sorry."

He looked at her with tears in his eyes and a frown on his eyebrows.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because if that's what it takes to make you feel better, then I'll do it. Because I care about you." Sam choked in her tears. "Because they were my friends. And I miss Hannah so fucking bad."

She sat with hands on her face and Josh sat beside her.

"I still text her sometimes, you know." Sam said. "Sometimes, I wake up and think about calling her and it takes me one phone call to a number that doesn't exist anymore to realize she's dead."

He put a hand on her back and she broke down, pushing herself against him as he cried along with her.

~oOo~

"He has other friends." Luna whispered to herself, sitting on the rock near by the bay at the shore. "And that's okay. He has other friends, and that's okay."

She kept repeating the phrase over and over in her head through the day. She spent it collecting the debts people owed her and by the end of it, she decided to watch the sunset by herself. She had tried to draw, but her tears kept falling on the paper and ending up ruining the sketch.

"He has other friends. And that's okay." She nodded. "It's fine."

"What's that?" Josh's voice interrupted her intern monolog and made her jump.

"What the fuck, don't scare me like that!" She exclaimed, putting a hand on her chest. He laughed.

"Sorry." He sat next to her. The first thing he noticed on her was that she wasn't wearing any makeup. Her pale face made him surprised; she looked so different without the gray and black on her eyes. Her hair was up in a very messy ponytail; it was she didn't even try to get ready to get out of the house.

"Stop looking at me like that." She said, without looking at him.

"I'm not looking at you." He turned his head to look at the sunset.

Luna laughed lightly and both went quiet. It was a long pause until she broke it.

"How did you know I was here?"

"Yeah, well, lucky guess." He shrugged. "You weren't answering your phone, or my texts."

"Yeah… I was avoiding you."

He looked at her frowning. "Appreciate your honesty."

"Thanks."

"But why?"

Luna sighed and hugged herself and only then he noticed she was wearing his former shirt.

"You left." She said after awhile in silence.

"Oh." He replied. "Yeah. Sorry."

She looked at him with a serious expression.

"Don't do that." She said.

"What?"

"Leave in the morning." She looked away. "Don't do that with me or anyone else."

He stared at her and frowned confused.

"Are you… Are you mad at me?" He almost stuttered.

She looked at him and gave him a small smile, shaking her head. He smiled at her and she took a deep breath, opening her mouth to say something but closed right away.

"What?" He asked, grinning.

She hesitated.

"Just…" She struggled to find the words. "If you need space, it's fine. But… If you need someone to talk, I'm always here."

He looked at her as his grin slowly faded.

"Sorry about yesterday." He said after a moment in silence.

"There's nothing to be sorry." She replied. "I have nightmares too."

He didn't say anything, just stared at her. Her mind was a confusion of mixed feelings and thoughts she hadn't thought of in years. The guy who showed up at Josh's place the first time she spent the night there. The blonde girl who waited for him in front of his house. She couldn't help but feel like she was just another person in his life. Not special. Just a normal friend. Not best friend. A friend.

 _He has other friends. And that's okay._

Josh seemed to notice that she was out of herself at the moment and wondered if it was his fault.

"Luna…" He called her.

She slowly turned her head to face him. Her eyes looked dispersed. Her mind was somewhere else and he knew that.

"You wanna come over my place and watch some old movies and take ice cream?" He grinned at her.

She wasn't supposed to fell like that. She knew it. But, still, she did. She felt like his smile cold light a whole town. She felt special.

She felt loved.

~ooOOoo~

 _A/N: hey guys, I want to thank all of you for reading this story. And I forgot to wish you all a happy new year in the last update so… happy new year!_

 _thank you so much for your reviews, they keep me going!_

 _btw, guest Abby V: I would LOVE to hear about your oc anytime! message me, pls, if u want idk_

 _ok, bye_

 _ps: canon will start at chapter 13, ok bye ily_


	6. Chapter 6

_This is how it ends_

 _I feel the chemicals_

 _ **Burn**_ _in my_

 _Bloodstream_

 _(Ed Sheeran)_

~ooOOoo~

" _They don't deserve your friendship."_ Beth whispered in Josh's ear.

" _They don't deserve us."_ Hannah completed in the other ear.

" _We're the only ones who understands you, big bro."_ They said.

He frowned, taking a deep breath and closing his hands in fists.

"Shut up." He mumbled, rolling around the bed.

"I didn't say anything." Luna's voice made him snap his eyes open and look around the room.

She was there, sitting on his desk with her binder in her hands, staring at him. A smile was crossing her face, as her eyes were brighter than normal. It was sort of a creepy smile, like if she knew all of Josh's dirty secrets.

"Luna?" He asked, looking for any sign of Hannah and Beth. It was the only way of knowing if he was still dreaming or not.

"Yes?" She raised her eyebrows when heard her name.

"How did you get in here?" He frowned.

"Your mom let me in." She laced her hands together. "You know she loves me."

Her smile grew bigger. It was true; ever since Josh's parents met Luna, she was always at his house. Melinda loved Luna, since the girl was helping Josh in the mourning phase. Even though Josh asked his mother specifically to not tell Luna about Hannah and Beth, Mrs. Washington would always thank Luna for being beside Josh all the time.

He let out a laugh, however, and sat on the bed, staring at her.

"Yeah, she does." He replied.

"I think it's because I remind her of Hannah." She shrugged. Josh's smile instantly disappeared. "Maybe the hair reminds her of the rebel attitude Hannah had when she get tattooed, don't you think?"

"What?" He breathed.

"Nah, I don't think so." She shrugged again. "But, hey, do you wanna see my drawing?"

She looked like a kid, laughing and jumping on Josh's bed. She moved over on top of him and opened her binder, smiling.

One look at the drawing was enough to make him sick. It was Hannah and Beth with rotten skins and teeth; their eyes were white like zombies and their expressions were blank, like if they had nothing on their brain. Beth's cheeks were ripped exposing her rotting teeth; Hannah had one eye hanging from her skull.

Josh's eyes started to water and he looked at Luna again to see her smiling like she was proud of her masterpiece.

"Why?" His voice was small, and it had a little of fear.

Her smile disappeared. "Because you killed them." She said "You left them there to die in the cold snow."

His breathing increased and tears streamed down his face.

"No-"

"Yes." She interrupted him. "You're a piece of shit, Josh. _I hate you_."

"Josh!" Chris yelled for the fourth time to wake him up.

His friend opened his eyes and a sharp gasp was let out of his mouth.

"Dude!" Josh exclaimed, sitting in the bed quickly.

"Don't 'dude' me, man!" His friend replied, sighing. "I've been trying to wake you up for the last half an hour!"

Josh was so caught up in his nightmare that he had forgotten that Chris went to spend to the night at his place, in order to celebrate his 20th birthday.

The nightmares were starting to become more frequent. So frequent that Josh was scared of sleeping sometimes. They were becoming so real that he couldn't tell the difference between reality and dreams. Dr. Hill suggested him to take stronger sleeping pills, since he believed the stronger antidepressants were causing the nightmares.

"Hey, man." Chris said, taking Josh off of his thoughts. "Happy birthday."

Josh looked at the blond man and laughed, smiling.

"Thanks, dude."

"Hey, I almost forgot!" Chris stood up. "I'm going to throw you a party."

"What-"

"Can't take no for an answer." Chris interrupted him, as he dressed up.

"Wait, man, I don't think that it would-"

"Don't worry, it'll be awesome." He cut his friend off, once more. "I'm going to make it awesome."

Chris left Josh confused on his room, shaking his head. A party was the last thing he wanted on that day, after that nightmare. Frustrated, he took his phone and did what he did every morning. Texted Luna. Or better: he read a text from her, sent at 3:23am.

 _Hot Legs: happy birthday, pretty boy. have a good one._

He found it odd, it looked like it wasn't even her that texted him. She wasn't cheery, or didn't make any jokes about him getting older.

 _Josh: Thank you, hot legs. My friend is forcing me to throw a party. Wanna come?_

Luna read the text five times, before putting her phone away. Sitting at the rock near the bay, she sighed and smelled the salty air from the ocean. Tears stains were in her cheek as she lost herself in her thoughts again.

She was sitting there for over two hours, reviving the events of the night before. Sighing, she stood up and jumped out of the rock, walking away from the beach.

She felt like walking in slow motion in the middle of a fast forward crowd. She felt numb, even though the effects of the morphine weren't in her system anymore. Luna saw herself walking in the middle of an avenue and only came to her senses when a car honked at her, making her jump back to reality.

"I would like a room, please." She said to the man at the reception of a small motel, the only one she could afford.

"400 dollars a week, miss." He answered in a southern accent. She was glad she had saved half of her money enough to pay a couple weeks.

Dropping her duffle bag on the floor of the room, she sat on the bed sighing and running her hands on her face. She never thought she'd stoop so low, having to pay a cheap motel room to spend the night.

She didn't want to think that much, or else, she would spend the night crying. Instead, she took her clothes off her bag and placed them in the closet. Taking her things off her backpack, she picked up her binder, which she stared at it and felt the tears fill her eyes in.

Her mind went straight to Josh; she wanted to tell him what happened, maybe even cry on his arms. But it was the man's 20th birthday and she didn't want to ruin it. She even thought about telling him that she knew about Hannah and Beth. He'd still been hiding from her; she believed something had happened for him to hide something so important like that from her.

With tears already streaming down her face, she felt her stomach twist and the room spin around her. Running to the bathroom, she spilled her guts out, grabbing the sides of the toilet. When everything she had eaten on the day before was in the toilet, she laid on the floor, trying to breathe.

Her head hurt. Her face hurt. She felt so tired, so emotionally tired of everything and everyone. All she wanted to do was lie in bed and sleep forever.

And maybe she could.

~oOo~

Luna hadn't replied to his texts all day. Josh was starting to worry about her. He even went to her place, at the rock near by the bay in that afternoon, but she wasn't there.

She didn't show up at the party on that night too. He was surrounded by people he knew, but all he could think about was Luna. He wanted to talk to her, be with her, even for a few minutes.

But at least Sam was there. And they talked for a while. And it was good for him. Just not enough. He felt like he and Sam had a connection. But he also felt like Luna and him had a stronger one.

The party wasn't wild and crazy like he was used to. It was calm and a little quiet, since his parents were home on that night.

"Well." Sam said, once everyone else was gone. "Take care then."

"Yeah." Josh said, looking at a drunk Chris and Ashley trying to make him stay up. He nodded towards him. "Make sure he doesn't puke on your car."

She let out a laugh but her smile disappeared too soon. "You seemed distracted tonight…"

He took a second or two for him to think of an excuse, but he didn't have to. Sam thought it was because of Hannah and Beth –and it was, part of it. She knew the whole party idea was Chris', so she understood.

"Anyway, I have to go." She interrupted his thoughts. "Bye, Josh."

After saying goodbye to his friends, he started cleaning the party room; stopping only to check the time. 2:09. Of course the party was over too soon, it was Thursday. People had stuff to do, places to be.

He sat on the leather couch and checked his phone once more. No text from Luna. Sighing, he stood up and got back to cleaning the place. He wanted to cry, but he knew it wasn't the time. It was his birthday and the only person who he wanted to spend time with had given him the silent treatment.

After all the beer bottles were in a trash can and all dirty plates were in the washing machine, he went up to his room, craving for his bed. Even though sleeping meant the nightmares would come back, he just wanted to rest. Reaching to the doorknob, he stopped in the middle of the act when heard a light thud coming from inside the room.

His heart skipped a beat and his hands started to shake. His parents were sleeping on their room; Josh was the only person awake in that house. Was he already dreaming? Had he fell asleep and didn't notice? Did the nightmares come back?

His head, filled with the most disturbing thoughts; he finally reached the doorknob and slowly opened the door. In his own bedroom, near by the window, he saw Luna rubbing her forehead with her small hand.

She looked terrible. Her hair needed contact to a brush, or maybe even a shower. Her clothes were the same as the day he saw her for the last time, and her face… Half of it was covered by her hair, but he was pretty sure she was a mess. He could smell weed and alcohol, even though he was a significant distance from her.

"Luna?" He finally called her. She looked up and smiled at him, a tired and stoned smile.

"Josh!" She exclaimed and tried to stand up as he walked towards her. She hugged him, throwing all of her weight on Josh, who was not prepared to this kind of surprise and both fell on the bed; Luna, on top of him, was laughing and smiling. "Sorry I didn't make it to the party." She mumbled and swallowed. "But I have something to tell you…"

"Are you drunk?" He frowned, trying to sit on the bed, and she sat on his lap, making her face him.

"Yeah…" She swallowed again. "And high, probably." She laughed for a second. "Listen, let's have sex."

Josh's frown grew deeper.

"What?!" He exclaimed.

"Yeah, I mean, you're sad, I'm sad, let's just get laid. Everybody wins." Her words were slowly and dragged as she talked.

"What, no, I don't wanna have sex with you!"

Luna raised her eyebrows and put her hand on his chest. "It's because I'm seventeen?"

"Luna-"

"Because if you think I'm a virgin…" She started laughing. "You are very wrong, pretty boy…" She looked down, making with the hair on her face move a little, showing a little of her bruise to Josh.

He frowned and put his hands on her arms. She noticed and smiled, raising her eyebrows. "Yeah, that's what I'm talking, babe." She leaned for a kiss, but he stopped her.

"Wait, stay still." He said and she obeyed. Lightly, he moved away the piece of hair that hid her left eye and widened his eyes when saw the bruise. Her smile suddenly disappeared, and she tried to move her head away from him, but he held her face to take a better look.

Her eye was a little swollen and shades of purple surrounded it, going all the way down to her cheek.

"Luna!" He exclaimed. "What happened?"

She looked at him for one second, before the tears start to fill her eyes.

"I fell." Her voice was weak, almost a whisper.

"No, you didn't." He tightened his grip on her. "Who did it? Was it your stepmother?"

Luna closed her eyes and shook her head, as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Who did it?" He insisted. "Luna, who hit you?"

She hesitated, dropping her hands to her sides. When she spoke, her voice was in a high-pitched tone, because of the crying.

"My father."

Josh stared at her, while she cried and didn't know what to say. He felt an incontrollable anger of the man who did that to her and closed his hands in fists, trying to calm down.

He then hugged her, making her burry her face on his neck, sobbing and crying. His nails dug into her clothes and he held her tight, like if he was the only one there for her.

And maybe he was.

~oOo~

It was about 4am when Luna finally fell asleep on Josh's bed. The only sound on the room was her deep breathing; Josh sat on the edge of the bed in silence with his thoughts. And his sisters' voices. Despite their voice still telling him what to do or what to think, he stood up and walked towards the bathroom. He stared at his reflection in the mirror for a moment, until he heard his sisters whispering in his ears.

" _You have to come back."_

He frowned, trying not to listen them.

" _The lodge, Josh."_ Hannah whispered in his right ear as Beth did it on the left one.

" _Go back to the lodge…"_

" _And make them pay."_

"Shut up!" He yelled, closing his hands in fists and punching the mirror, making it break.

He blinked hard and saw the mirror still intact in front of him. He breathed, confused, and looked at Luna who was still asleep in his bed. He looked back at his reflection; his messy curly hair, the dark circles under his eyes.

 _Great. Now I'm having hallucinations._

He sighed and closed his eyes again, feelings the tears on the back of his eyes. He fought them, taking a deep breath.

" _The lodge, Josh."_ They repeated. _"Go back to the lodge."_

He released his breath and felt the tears stream down his face.

"Just…" He mumbled, bending over and hugging the sides of his head. "Stay dead. _Please_."

When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on his bed. He frowned confused; how the hell did he get there? Was he hallucinating again? He turned to side to pick his phone and look at the time. 9:04am.

He grunted, rubbing his face with his hands and closing his eyes. He sighed, lying on his back. He'd never had those lacks of memories before.

 _Maybe I'm going insane._

"I don't know how I got here." Luna's voice was small, but still made Josh jump on his bed. He forgot she was there.

"Luna." He sat on the bed, looking at her. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging her legs, her back leaned on the wall.

"I don't remember…" She whispered.

He sighed again and moved closer to her. "You were drunk." He said. "And high. You said you needed to say something… You remember what was it?"

Of course she didn't remember, but she knew what was it. It was something that was bothering her since she found out about it. She wanted to tell him she knew about his sisters. However, she shook her head and looked away from him.

"Well." He shrugged. "Then you asked me to have sex with me."

She widened her eyes and looked at him. "No, I didn't." She tried to explain.

He laughed. "Yes, you did." He grinned to her. "I mean, I know it's hard to resist…" He ran a hand through his hair. "But you could've at least tried."

She stared at him with narrowed eyes, holding her smile, and then she rolled her eyes and shook her head, sighing.

"I don't believe you." She said, looking away. "I would never have sex with you."

It was his turn to raise his eyebrows at her. "What? Why?!"

She smiled a bit. "You're just not my type." He teased him.

"Oh, really?" He shifted on the bed, moving closer to her. "So…" He talked slowly, moving closer to her ear. "You don't like guys that can fuck you like you've never been fucked before? You don't like guys that make you beg for more like your life depend on it? You don't like to see stars and hope for and more and more each time?"

Luna looked at him a different look on her face. It was something in between a playful smile and a seductive look, something he'd never seen on her.

"Are you trying to turn me on, Mr. Washington?" She whispered, her face close to his.

He pulled back, sitting back in his place. "Maybe, I am." He replied. "Maybe, I'm not. The real question is…" He looked at her. "Is it working?"

She laughed, showing her teeth; the action caused her bruise to hurt and she immediately stopped. Putting a hand on her left cheek, she mumbled an "ow" and went quiet. He stared at her in silence for a moment.

"Luna, what happened?" His voice showed a little bit of worry and compassion for her. She sighed before answering.

"He was drunk." She paused. "They're fighting and… It got ugly." She looked at him. "I tried to stop him, I- I got in the middle and he didn't like it."

She went silent as she looked away, lost in her thoughts.

"Did it hurt?" His voice interrupted her thoughts. He immediately regretted talking, considering it was a pretty obvious question.

 _Are you stupid? Of course it hurt, she was punched on the face._

"No." She replied. "I was on morphine when it happened."

He nodded and went quiet for a while, thinking about what he was going to say. She was going to hate him, but he had to say it.

"Have you ever thought about calling the police?"

She let out a laugh, scoffing him. "I can't count how many times my mother and I went to the police because of him." She shook her head. "They needed evidences. Apparently, her broken ribs and dislocated shoulders weren't evidence enough…"

She trailed off, feeling the tears fill her eyes as she remembered her mother. Why was she getting so emotional lately? She needed her morphine. Yes, the morphine was her solution. The magic pills that'd make all go away. She opened her mouth to tell him she had to leave, but Josh brought it up again.

"What if someone else go the police?"

She looked at him, confused at first, but then she raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

"Don't you dare." She whispered. "I'll never forgive you."

"Wow, rude." He joked, even though she wasn't.

"I'm serious." She said, and his smile disappeared. "Nancy will kill me. I'll end up in a foster home and there goes my freedom." She looked away, as if she was talking to herself. "Or they'll confiscate my drugs and I'll go the juvie. I'll have no money to pay the motel room and-"

"Wow, wait, what?" He interrupted her. "Motel room?"

She looked at him. "Oh." She said. "I didn't tell you? I… Am not living there anymore."

"And you're paying a motel room?!" He laughed a little. She just shrugged. "You know you can stay here if you want."

She sighed, closing her eyes. "I knew you were going to say that."

"What's the problem?"

"I can't." She replied. "I just… Can't."

"Oh, c'mon, hot legs." He nudged his shoulder at hers. "Think about it; us staying up late every night, eating junk food and watching horror movies… And, y'know. Saving a little shower water." He smiled at her, seductively.

She just frowned, giving him a small laugh.

"As much fun this sounds- except for the shower part… I just can't, we live in… Different realities, different worlds."

"What, just because I'm rich?"

"Exactly because you're rich!" She laughed. "You wouldn't…" She sighed. "You don't know the things that happens on my routine, okay?"

He went quiet. She didn't think he could handle a little bit of toughness in his life? Hell, he had been having a tough time since January. She had no idea the things he had to live with, the voices, the nightmares, and now, the hallucinations. A little bit of teenage drama wasn't even going to tickle him. A sudden anger started to grow in his chest as he opened his mouth to yell at her. But she was quicker and stood up from the bed, stretching.

"Anyway, I have to go." She said.

"Yeah, you should." He stood up and walked towards the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Luna frowned, confused at the sudden mood changing. What happened now? She took a step towards the bathroom door to ask him, but she heard the shower running, interrupting her in the act. She sighed.

 _Swear to God, sometimes you look like a woman._

She sat on the bed, to put her converse shoes and tie them up. She stopped on the left foot when heard Melinda's voice from the hallway.

"Josh?" His mom knocked on the door, reaching for the doorknob.

Luna ran to the bathroom, closing the door as Mrs. Washington opened the bedroom door. Josh didn't hear her coming in and kept mumbling to himself; Luna heard the footsteps of his mother coming towards the bathroom. She quickly slipped into the bathtub closing the curtain and making Josh wide his eyes. He was surprised at first, having Luna there in the shower with him, but then he gave her a half smile.

"Ah, so you finally changed your min-"

"Shh!" She put a hand on his mouth and he frowned at her.

It all made sense when he heard his mother's voice call him.

"Josh."

He widened his eyes to Luna and she let him go, allowing him to speak.

"Yeah?" He still had the same look on his face, teasing Luna until the edge.

"Listen, your father and I…" She started, and then sighed. "We're going to New Zealand this Sunday…"

"Oh." He replied her when she didn't speak anymore. "Work?"

"Yeah and…" She took a deep breath. "We want you to come with us this time."

Josh went quiet. He knew why his parents wanted that. They didn't trust their own son by himself for a long period of time, since it happened. He remembered how it went. His mother screaming for him to wake up, the horrible nightmare; he'd still remembered all.

With a sigh, he replied. "How long?"

"A month, only." She cleared her throat. "You can still be in touch with your friends, I'm sure they'll understand after Han-"

"I can't." He interrupted her.

"Why not?"

Josh stared at Luna before speaking again. "Luna."

The girl opened her mouth to protest but he was quicker and grabbed her, making her spin on her heels, covering her mouth and holding her shoulder. When she felt the warm shower water soak her, she tried to struggle, but he held her in place with an inhuman strength.

"What about her?" His mom asked, making Luna freeze in place.

"She's uh…. She's sick." He lied. "And her parents aren't in town, she asked me to come over and take care of her."

Luna frowned in Josh's arms. She didn't hope his mother believe in that lie, since it was a bad one. However, Mrs. Washington did believe.

"Oh." The woman said. "Well, you could invite her to spend the month here with you… I just really don't like you being alone-"

"Yeah, mom, okay, I'll invite her. Can I take a shower now?"

"Yes, right, sorry!" She turned her back to the bathroom but then stopped when saw a small converse shoe on the floor, near by his bed. She turned around and opened her mouth to say something, but didn't. Instead, she turned around and left the room.

~oOo~

A/N: im officially writing the chapter where the game starts! are you excited? i know I am!11

Anyway, canon will start in chapter 13, ok? Ok, have a good week. Love u.


	7. Chapter 7

Well, it only took me almost the entire years, but here it is. I lost all the files from my flash drve and now, i'm trying to write everything again. Thank you for your patience.

* * *

In the moment Mrs. Washington was gone, Josh let go of Luna and she turned to face him, with a frown on her face.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" She exclaimed to him, with an indignant look in her eyes.

"Look, my mom would flip out if she knew you were here-" He started explain, but the girl interrupted him.

"No, I mean why don't you go with them?!"

Josh looked at her for a moment, frowning, wondering why did she care that much. He didn't know what to say, so he kept quiet.

"Josh, they are your parents." She said. "Your family. You should go with them."

"Why?"

She looked down and only then she remembered she was at the shower with him. Her cheeks turned bright red and she immediately opened the curtains and stepped out of the tub. Grabbing his towel, she quickly tried to dry herself in an attempt of distracting herself from the fact she just saw Josh naked. As she thought of an answer she sighed, giving up and taking her clothes off.

"Because…" She thought of something to say. "They're family."

She faced the curtains wrapping herself in the towel and sighed, as Josh turned the shower off.

"Josh, if you only knew what I'd give for my father to want to spend time with me…"

"Oh, no!" He opened the curtains and stepped out of the tub, making Luna uncomfortable again. "You don't get to play this card with me."

Luna shot a mean look to him. "I'm serious." She said in a serious voice tone. "You should embrace these opportunities because you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow."

His mind immediately flew back to that moment. That moment when he couldn't remember all too well, because of the alcohol. The moment he spoke with his sisters the last.

Luna also thought about Hannah and Beth, but didn't dare to say a word. They stared each other for a moment. Then, he sighed.

"Alright, fine." He said. "But with one condition."

She frowned, her mouth forming the beginning of a smile.

"You have to spend this last day with me." He continued.

Luna smiled and it made her face hurt, but she didn't care. Shrugging, she laughed. "I guess I have no choice, huh?"

"Nope."

"Okay, then." She looked at him, still trying to ignore that they were still in his bathroom… _Naked._

"Well!" She turned around and walked into his room. "I'm borrowing a shirt. Can you hang my clothes, please?"

"Just put 'em in the dryer."

She turned her head to face him. "Are you kidding? They'll shrink."

Josh came in her direction and then Luna turned her back to him. "Josh, you're still naked you know that?"

"Yeah, so are you." He replied and Luna realized she'd been wrapped on a towel for a while now.

"Okay, just get into the bathroom." She said.

"What?" He pretended to be offended. "And I thought you wanted to see me naked."

She laughed. "Just go!"

~oOo~

Luna ended up staying at Josh's all the day. Wearing one of his boxers and a T-shirt, she played video games with him and watched movies all day. By the end of the day, she felt an unusual affliction in her heart. She knew Josh had to go, and she knew it was her idea. But still, he was her only friend. It was going be one month without him.

She hugged him tight, at the front door, and sighed. "I'm gonna miss you."

Josh laughed at the way her voice sounded, muffled by his shoulder. "I'm gonna miss you too, Hot Legs." He replied. "It's not gonna be forever y'know."

Luna scoffed. "Shut up, you're ruining the moment."

He laughed. She had realized, for a while now, that the sound of his laugh was her favorite sound now. She knew where this was going. And it scared the shit out of her.

~ooOOoo~

The lights were flicking in a sickeningly way and Luna had to narrow her eyes to not have an epileptic attack. She didn't like crowded spaces. But she needed the money to pay the motel room; so there she was, standing in the smoking area of a full club. The songs they played were definitely not her style and the people…

He walked into the club like he owned the place. His friends behind him, celebrating and getting everyone's attention.

 _UGH._

It was all in her mind as she watched them entering the place, thinking that they were the most important people there. Sighing, she rolled her eyes and started to make her deals.

Luna was tired and stressed, but she still kept working. It had been only two weeks since Josh had left for New Zealand, but it felt like an eternity to her. They always texted and talked of course, but it wasn't the same thing. It was like the lack of his presence sucked all of her energy, which was weird, because usually the presence of some people would make her feel like she was ran over by a truck.

 _Two more weeks, Luna. You can do this._

It didn't take long for him to notice her. Standing a corner of the smoking area, by herself, smoking a cigarette. He thought about going to talk to her, but hesitated for a moment.

"What the hell." He said to himself. "I'm single."

He found himself walking towards her, as he observed the girl. Short, tight black dress with high heels so high that make her look like she was almost as tall as his ex girlfriend. He stared at her black hair that had a light shade of pink at the ends of it.

"Marijuana is 10 a gram!" She yelled, trying to louder than the background music, as he approached her. "Molly is 35 a pill."

"What?!" He frowned. "No, I just want to know if you wanna dance!"

It was her time to frown. "I'm working!"

"But maybe you could take a break?!"

Luna looked at him, with no expression. The man stepped back with the intention of leaving but didn't.

"Okay, fine, I wanna buy something." He heard the words come out of his mouth.

She raised her eyebrows and looked at him a little surprised. "Weed or X?"

"X." He took his wallet from his jeans pocket and she stopped him, by putting a hand on his.

"Are fucking crazy?!" She asked and he frowned. "There might be undercover cops here, do you wanna go to jail? Do it discreetly."

He was surprised by the authority on her voice and did like she said.

"Thank you." He said. "My name is-"

"Fuck off." She interrupted him and turned her back to count the money.

He left, but couldn't take the girl out of his mind. As the night went through, he constantly would check in the smoking area to see if she was still there.

Luna, on the other hand, wasn't used to sell her 'products' directly to the people who would use them. It so much easier to get the money on time, instead of having to deal with people who didn't want to pay her. She earned enough money to pay three weeks on the motel and there would still be some cash left for her.

When the clock hit 4:30am, she left the place through the back door. The heels were eating her feet, so she instantly took them off, and put her jacket on. It didn't take too long for her to notice him and his friend.

The dark haired guy was putting some of his drunken mates on a taxicab when he noticed her, looking at her phone and laughing.

 _Pretty boy: Can u believe this is a bird? With a name of a fruit?_

Luna smiled at the picture of Josh with a Kiwi on his hands.

"Hey."

His voice startled her, making her almost drop her phone.

"Fuck nugget!" She exclaimed, making him laugh. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, I actually didn't get your name…"

"Good." The girl raised her hand to call a cab.

"Oh, okay." He said, stepping back. "Sorry."

She looked at him walking away and sighed.

"Luna." She said, making him stop his tracks. She couldn't believe she was feeling sorry for guy like him, but yet she still gave him a chance. "My name is Luna."

He smiled. "Nice name." He replied. "I'm Mike."

She nodded. They both stood in silence for a while as Luna tried to call another cab.

"So." He said, breaking the silence. "Where to now?"

"Home." She said. "Had a rough week, y'know."

"Oh." He watched as the taxicab arrived and she opened the door.

Luna sat on the car and looked at him. "Are you gonna get in or…?"

Mike was really surprised with the offer and considered refusing for a second. However, a thought echoed in his mind.

 _Fuck Emily._

Inside the car, the only sound was the radio from the cab. Both of them didn't say a word for a while; it was Luna who said it first.

"So how long have you been thinking in breaking up with your girlfriend?"

Mike looked at her in shock. "How do you know that?!" He exclaimed.

She shrugged. "Just assumed." She mumbled. "Also, you hesitated to get in the cab."

"That could mean anything."

"Yeah, but you also hesitated to come talk to me back there."

He chuckled. "Observant."

"Yeah, I like to watch people."

An awkward silence followed the moment. He cringed at her and then she realized what she had just said.

"That sounded gross." She chuckled. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's okay." He replied. "To be honest, I've wanted to break up with her for so long I can't even remember."

"And I'm going to be your excuse?" She asked, sincerely.

The man looked at her with surprised eyes. "I didn't-"

"You know what?" She interrupted him. "You're lucky that I don't get laid in ages."

~oOo~

Josh looked over his shoulder to check if the redhead girl was still sleeping on his bed. He didn't plan this, but she wasn't important anymore. What was really important was the reason he couldn't sleep.

Hannah was there. Beth was there. And it wasn't like before, he could shake his head and they were gone. No, they didn't go away. He grasped the sides of his head and shut tight his eyes. In his head, their voices were driving him insane.

 _The lodge, Josh. Come back for us._

"Shut up." He mumbled, rocking himself on the edge of the bed. "Just shut up."

 _No. You have to listen._ Alucination!Hannah kneeled in front of him, forcing him to look at her. _You_ have _to go back._

Josh looked deep into her eyes and stood quiet for a moment. Then, it hit him.

He knew what he should do.

~oOo~

Mike opened his eyes with the sound of someone snorting something. It took a few seconds for him to remember where he was. He quickly recognized the messy small hotel room, and noticed he wasn't wearing any clothes. Looking in front of him, he saw Luna, her back faced him, sitting by the small desk table and wearing an oversized shirt –Josh's shirt.

She snorted the last line of morphine and stared at the wall in front of her. She missed Josh. It hurt for her to be far from him. And that scared the shit outta her.

"Fuck." Mike interrupted her thoughts. She looked at the table, but barely moved a muscle. "Hangover."

"There's coffee on the store just across the street." Luna said, almost without emotion. "When you leave, please make sure you don't come back."

"What?" He frowned.

She sighed, rubbing her hands on her face. "Mark, listen."

"Mike." He said, sitting on the bed. "My name is Mike."

"Mike! Whatever!" She turned to face him. "Please leave."

Both stood in silence for a second, and then, she stood up and entered in the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Mike was in shock before he started to put his clothes, indignant with the girl.

Luna stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she heard the front door close shut.

"Disgusting." She whispered to herself. "You're disgusting."

Tears started to fill her eyes and she took a deep breath as they fell instantly. Her chest hurt and she tried to stop, but she couldn't. Eventually, she kneeled, sitting on the cold floor as she waited for the morphine to kick in.

~ooOOoo~

Josh finally entered his room and sighed.

"I missed you." He said, lying in his bed and feeling the softness of it. "Nothing ever compares to you, babe. I'm never leaving you again."

After texting all of his friends, including Luna, that he was finally back, he dropped dead, and slept all day.

He woke up with a bunch of text messages from Luna.

 _Hot Legs: hey pretty boy, wanna have some fun?_

 _Hot Legs: josh answer me!1_

 _Hot Legs: im coming over_

 _Hot Legs: since u didnt reply ill take that as a yes. im getting in the subway._

He laughed at his phone and got up to go to the toilet. As soon as he flushed the toilet, he heard a soft thud coming from his room and stiffened. For a moment, he thought it was one of his hallucinations, but then he heard her voice.

"Ouch." Luna said, rubbing her elbow while sat on the floor, right beside the window.

Josh entered the room and when she saw him her face lit up and she smiled so big that he felt his heart warm up. He was home at last.

"Josh!" She exclaimed, standing up and jumping on him. He held her in place and she wrapped her legs around him. "Finally."

Her voice was like music to him and he sighed, burying his face on her hair. Closing his eyes for a moment, he wished the moment lasted forever.

"I missed you." He heard the sound of his own voice.

Luna's heart skipped a beat and she smiled. He put her in the ground and stared at her for a moment. The bruise in her face was completely gone, her hair was a tiny bit longer and had a different color instead of the blue and she was wearing no makeup.

"C'mon, let's go." She said, pulling him towards the window, but stopped. "Wait, get your car keys."

"What?"

"I mean, unless you wanna ride the subway again…"

"Nope!" He ran to get his car keys.

After sneaking out to the garage, Luna opened the Volvo's door and sat on the driver's seat.

"What are you doing?" Josh asked.

"I'm driving." She replied smiling.

"No, you're not."

"Don't be a bitch, c'mon."

Josh wanted to argue with her, but held himself. He silently sat on the passenger's seat and gave her the key.

"Please don't do anything stupid."

"Relax." She turned on the car. "I'm an excellent driver!"

~oOo~

Luna wasn't an excellent driver. Every second Josh spent inside that car, he spent it wishing her never got in. But eventually, when they arrived at the place, he was much calmer.

Only when Luna poorly parked the car, he looked at where they were. A motel.

"Where are we?" He asked, as Luna was already opening the door.

"Home." She replied smirking.

"Oh, are you taking me to your room?" He teased.

"Shut up." She laughed and grabbed his arm. "It's so much better than my room."

Luna led Josh to a small entrance in between the trees that surrounded the motel.

"Oh, I knew you were kinky." He joked. "I'm not much of a fan of fucking in the woods, but hey, whatever you like."

"Josh!" She laughed again. "Be quiet."

He smiled and followed her to a small path that led the backyard of a house.

"See?" She whispered, pointing to the pool.

Josh frowned, confused. "Luna, I don't want to offend you or anything but… You do know there's a pool in _my_ backyard, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Josh, I know that." She replied, walking towards the house. "But I like it here."

He watched her as she approached the pool and kicked her flip-flops off her feet. Hesitant, he followed her.

"But this is someone else's house." He argued. "We can get caught in here."

"I know." She smirked. "Getting caught is half of the fun, right?"

Luna quickly took her shorts off, and for a moment Josh thought he was going to see her naked. But she kept with the oversized white shirt and jumped on the pool.

"Really?!" He said. "No skinny dip?"

"Shut up and get in already!"

Josh took his shirt and shoes off, and jumped on the pool. He was still nervous, but when Luna approached him smiling, he smiled.

"Yeah, this is nice." He said.

"Told you." She smiled at him.

They played for a while in the water, but eventually they continued talking; Luna kept asking him about New Zealand and in every answer her eyes gleamed a little, fascinated with the places and his stories. When he stopped talking, they were in silence for a while.

That was when Josh started to lean closer to Luna. She was paralyzed and didn't know what to do. Her heart was beating so fast, she could almost hear it. Then, she dove into the water and he realized what he was doing.

In the second she came up to get some air, the lights of the house turned on. There was a second where she thought it was no one, but then the owner of the house walked outside.

"Run!" She yelled at Josh and they both rushed to get out of the pool and came back to the way they came from.

They ran through the motel parking lot and Josh opened the car door. Luna managed to get their clothes in the way and jumped into the car too.

Josh drove quickly out of the parking lot through the road.

"Oh my God!" He exclaimed. "That was terrifying!"

Luna started laughing. "I told you it was fun!"

"Are you crazy?!" He breathed. "We could go to the jail for that."

A silence filled the car as she looked at him, smirking.

"Alright, fine." He gave up. "It was fun."

Luna smiled, the way he liked to see. He looked at her, after pulling of on the side road.

"I got something for you." He said after a moment, looking for inside his pockets. "From there."

He took her hand and out something in it; she opened her small hand and saw a silver necklace with a pendant. A Kiwi pendant. She opened her mouth and smiled.

"Oh my god!" She laughed.

"I know you liked that bird a lot, so…"

"Thank you!" She grabbed her hair up and turned her back to him. "Put it on me."

He did as she asked and then, she hugged him.

"Josh, you're the best friend someone can have." She whispered in his ear and he hugged her tighter, like she was going to escape.

The rest of the night was calmer. They ate and he was in Luna's motel room until three in the morning. When he left, she sighed and touched the pendant.

"Only if you knew, Josh." She said to herself, watching him leave outside.

"Only if you knew."


End file.
